Raleigh, North Carolina: Art Trail: Sensory Deprivation, Vollis Whirligig
Along the Art Trail you'll find the Cloud Chamber (for sensory deprivation and sky image projection), and a Vollis Simpson whirligig.
Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park
- Address:
- 1900 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh, NC
- Directions:
- Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park. I-440 exit 4 or 4B. Drive west and then quickly exit onto Blue Ridge Rd. Turn right, then turn right again into the parking lot of the NC Museum of Art. Park as far to the right and the back as you can, then follow the trail south back into the trees.
- Hours:
- Daylight hours. (Call to verify)
- Phone:
- 919-839-6262
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Visitor Tips and News About Art Trail: Sensory Deprivation, Vollis Whirligig
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In 2013, Wind Sculpture II was added to the Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park. The sculpture appears to be a piece of Ankara fabric blowing in the wind. It stands 20 feet tall and is created with steel, fiberglass, and resin. Artist Yinka Shonibare designed the fabric to appear weightless, as if it is floating in air. The bright colors are a contrast to the natural beauty surrounding it.
[Cindy Pealstrom, 06/29/2025]
The Cloud Chamber is still standing, but a little musty smelling. Wear boots!
[Mark, 10/03/2024]The cloud chamber is closed right now due to weather damage to the trail.
[Sheryl Stark, 03/31/2019]Sadly, the pile of newspapers has been removed. We saw it a few weeks ago, but when we brought our friends to see it recently, it was gone.
The cloud chamber (its formal designation) is not meant as a sensory deprivation chamber. The best time to see it is during the week when you can sit inside for about 15 minutes, and on a cloudy day when it looks pitch black when you first get inside. After about 5 minutes your eyes adjust and you can start to see light. After about 10-15 minutes you can see the clouds and the details of the trees outside plastered on the walls inside the chamber, through a small pinhole in the roof. At this point there's enough light in the chamber to see the other benches. It's a great mind-bending experience if you give it enough time and you go on the right day.
[Patrick Chu, 06/28/2010]
The public sensory deprivation chamber at the NC Museum of Art is interesting, but the rest of the art installations really take the cake. Vollis Simpson created a huge whirligig for the museum.
The neatest thing on the art trail is the humongous stack of newspapers hiding in the woods. It doesn't sound very impressive but it is! Height is about 20 feet, and eight feet or so across. The process of decay of the sculpture is what I find really interesting. The stack is now leaning a bit and one of these decades I'm sure it will topple over, but who knows how long that will take. [RA: the pile became unstable and has been removed.]
There is no fee for visiting the art trail which is open every day during daylight hours. The trail is self-guided.
[Greg Brown, 01/21/2010]Page of 2 [Next 1 items]
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Too abstract and fey for our Roadside America brains. Maybe we pretend it's a circus clown's hanky, or a celestial visitor failing to blend in.