WILSON, N.C. – The eccentric vision of a self-taught North Carolina artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs is getting an overhaul that's as much about engineering as it is about art.

When a breeze brushes through the field just below Vollis Simpson's machine shop, you can hear the sounds of metal clanging against metal and of Ferris wheel-like contraptions turning. Subscribe to ...

At age 95, Frank Murn has the unique pastime of making automata –– small, colorful wooden sculptures attached to pieces of wire that move in circular, vertical or horizontal motions. These wooden ...