Detour Art
A curated guide to Artist-built Environments
region by region, coast-to-coast.
Dedicated to the sheer joy of outsider, folk, visionary, self-taught, vernacular art and environment discoveries found all along the back roads (and side streets).
Artist-built Environments in the United States
Note: Things change, so check first before arriving. When visiting art environments, remember they are usually on private property, so please be respectful and don’t trespass.
“PECULIAR TRAVEL SUGGESTIONS ARE DANCING LESSONS FROM GOD.”
— Kurt Vonnegut
Road stories
Minnie Adkins
Minnie Adkins began whittling as child, back when women didn't carry pocketknives or hunks of wood. But that didn't stop Minnie from carving roosters and dogs from sticks whenever she had the chance. She's continued to develop her craft and her possums, foxes, and chickens, and more are prominently featured at the Kentucky Folk Art Center and in some of the world's top collections of self-taught art. After her first husband, Garland, died, Minnie remarried and convinced the new guy, Herman,that he had the makings of an artist too, though he prefers working with metal. The couple hunkered down in a new, improved version of what they call Happy Gizzard Hollow, which has become an axis of self-taught art for the rural community around it.
Tile House + Tree of Life - Beverley Magennis
The Tile House is considered an Albuquerque landmark. All original mosaic art work that covers the home was completed by ceramic artist Beverley Magennis. She tiled the interiors and exteriors of homes, including her own, with tiles, pennies, and mosaics. Beginning in 1984 with a mosaic border around the doorway, eleven years later the house was covered inside and out.
Mrs. Pope's Museum - Laura (Forester) Pope
Laura Pope built a sculpture garden that surrounded her general store and house in a rural area near Ochlocknee, Georgia. It once included about 200 accomplished life-size cement figures of famous women and heroes of both World Wars, Martha Berry, Red Cross, Gold Star Mothers, and many others, including local school teachers.