The Boyer Gallery, officially known as the Paul Boyer Museum of Animated Carvings and commonly called "The Boyer Museum", is a
folk art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...
museum located at 1205 M Street in
Belleville, Kansas
Belleville is a city in and the county seat of Republic County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,007.
History
Belleville was founded in 1869, and incorporated as a city in 1878. It was named fo ...
, United States.
It features the animated
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
s of Paul Boyer. Many of the displays are hand carved
wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
en pieces that have been animated with hand-built
motor
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
s and mechanics, while others are working models of
aircraft
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
or
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
s. All of the pieces were built from scratch.
The gallery was closed for several years, but was reopened in 2007 by Boyer's daughters.
References
External links
Paul Boyer Museum of Animated Carvings- information about the museum
SPACES: Paul Boyer, Boyer Museum of Animated CarvingsRoadside America listing2008 Video Tour
Biographical museums in Kansas
Museums in Republic County, Kansas
Folk art museums and galleries in Kansas
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