Langlais Sculpture Preserve

Cushing, Maine

Maine folk artist Bernard "Blackie" Langlais (1921-1977) made over 3,500 sculptures, mostly of scrap lumber that he hammered together (He's best known for building the World's Tallest Indian in Skowhegan). Many of his artworks could be seen in the yard outside of his workshop, which puzzled Maine tourists of that time. "They see all this stuff," he said, "and can't imagine why anybody would want to do things like this."

When Blackie's widow died in 2010 she donated his home workshop and its artworks to the Kohler Foundation, which restored twelve of the big ones and opened the property to the public in 2015. There's a "Trojan elephant," a gaggle of five bears, a big hand, an alligator, and, unexpectedly, Richard Nixon holding his arms aloft making V-for-victory signs with his fingers. Kohler noted that they're made of wood, and they're outdoors in Maine, and that to expect them to have "an infinite life" would be unrealistic. So see them while you can.