Vollis Simpson, the creator of the 55-foot-tall spinning, whirling, clattering “whirligig” outside the American Visionary Art Museum, died on Friday in his home in Lucama, North Carolina. He was 94.

We thought we’d note his passing and our particular appreciation for Simpson’s found-art artpiece – “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” – that has become an antic and joyful city landmark.

The former machine shop owner and World War II veteran became a “visionary artist of the junkyard,’ as the New York Times put it in a fine obituary. He assembled bits of metal, wood, old coffee cups, picycle parts, ceiling fans, road signs and other scavenged items into amazing kinetic works of art that he at first simply called “windmills.”

And he did so “long before anyone started calling them whirligigs or him an artist,” as the Times pointed out.

For those interested in seeing more of Simpson’s work, it’s being collected and celebrated in North Carolina as part of a planned Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park, that will include some of his work outside and other pieces preserved inside, out of the weather. It’s scheduled to open in November of this year.

Here’s a link to the appreciation on the AVAM website.