Lucas, Kansas, is a little more than three hours away from here by car, but well worth the trip for any fan of unusual art. For the better part of a century, it's been home to the Garden of Eden. The national treasure was made by S. P. Dinsmoor, a schoolteacher farmer who had a unique perspective on the world and chose to express it through original cement sculptures placed around his house, a log cabin made of limestone slabs instead of wood. Dinsmoor, who died years ago, sculpted from cement a political food chain starting from imperialists, extending through working people and dogs on down to a lowly bug. In 1995, Lucas' destination status was enhanced with the opening of the Grassroots Art Center. Housed in three buildings, with an additional outdoor area for sculptures, it boasts a definitive collection of art by Kansans who, with no formal art training, were suddenly seized by inspiration. You'll find a full-size motorcycle made of soda can pull tops by Herman Drivers and cottonwood crotch people by Warren Lingg of Cawker City (home, incidentally, of one of the world's biggest balls of twine). A stroll through Lucas is rewarded with a view of Florence Deeble's rock garden, where she spent years recreating postcard scenes -- Mount Rushmore, Estes Park, etc. -- in mosaics of rocks in her yard. Visit on the Internet at
grassrootsart.home.att.net or call 785-525-6118.
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