Fred Smith's Wisconsin Concrete Park
An oddly poignant self-built sculpture park celebrating American lore
Category Outsider Art, Strange Statues, Outsider Architecture
The untrained eye married to the compulsion to create can produce the most strangely moving art. The Wisconsin Concrete Park is one such outdoor museum housing 237 concrete sculptures built by the self-taught outsider artist Fred Smith. Smith was a retired lumberjack who didn't sculpt his first figure until the age of 65.
The park's subjects, which are decorated mostly with shards of broken glass from beer bottles, are figures from American folklore, tradition, historical events and nature, ranging from Native Americans to miners, and from soldiers to woodland creatures. Smith created this concrete walk through American history unmotivated by money or fame, but built the masterwork, in his words, "for all the American people everywhere. They need something like this."
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- Hours Open daily during sunlight hours. To arrange guided tours for groups, call ahead for an appointment (suggested donation for group tour: $50)
- Website Fred Smith
- Address N8236 South Hwy 13, Phillips, Wisconsin, 54555-7933, United States
- Cost Price of Admission is free, but donations for site preservation are appreciated.
North-central Wisconsin, south of Phillips, Hwy. 13
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