Since I was young I have appreciated Vollis Simpson’s work. Although I didn’t know his name I knew his art. My father would take me to the North Carolina Museum of Art’s park on the weekends and that’s where I could find Simpson’s sculptures. His sculptures can be found outdoors, and can only be truly appreciated when the wind is blowing. To quote the New York Times “Vollis Simpson made metal scraps into magnificent things that twirled and jangled and clattered when set out on land.” Simpson initially ran a machine shop in Lucama North Carolina; where he repaired heavy equipment and came up with customized devices for moving houses and towing large trucks. By the 1970s he began repurposing old pieces of “junk” into what he originally called windmills. “Everybody made fun of me and laughed at me,” Mr. Simpson said in a documentary. “I didn’t pay ’em no damn mind.” He didn’t set out to make art, but now he is considered an art star. When researching Simpson I was sad to find out he had died recently, but reading about him makes me feel assured he lived a long lively ninety-four years.