If you ever find yourself traveling around the Nebraska-Kansas border, because so many people do, make sure to stop in the town of Belleville. There you’ll find Paul Boyer’s Museum of Animated Carvings, a collection of 65 imaginative and elaborate hand carved motion displays which are animated through intricate mechanisms of hand-bent wires and twirling gears, kind of like automatons or cuckoo clocks. For over 30 years, Mr. Boyer has been making his creations, such as goats butting heads, men making wood shingles, replicas of airplanes and tractors, and mazes of wire tracks. You can also see Santa Claus golfing (like any old white dude during his vacation) and a self-portrait of a woodcarver creating his magic. There are a lot of videos on YouTube showing the mechanical sculptures in action, like this one, so check them out if you’re looking to waste some minutes. And speaking of time, I bet you’re wondering how the guy finds it? Well, besides living in boring ol’ Kansas, Mr. Boyer has a lot of time on his hands ever since he lost his leg after an accident and contracted Hepatitis C. Unable to work, he dedicated his life to making things move, probably because he could not. After closing for a few years, his daughters reopened the museum in 2007 and are determined to keep the collection together. It is open from May through September.
Museum of Animated Carvings
