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USA
Midwest
M. T. Liggett
119 N Cherry
Mullinville, KS
620-548-2597
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Mullinville, KS
Art Field - Myron "M.T." Liggett
Folk Art Site
Self-taught Artist, Sculpture environment
Site Status: private property - visible from the street
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Information:
Built: 1989-present
M. T. Liggett was born into a sharecropping family in tiny Mullinville, Kansas (about 30 miles east of Dodge City) in the 1930's. After a career in the military, he returned to Mullinville and settled on the farm where he had been born.
In 1989, Liggett began creating metal sculptures. He uses a plasma arc cutter and an arc welder to turn old farm equipment, car parts, road signs, and any other odd bits of iron he can lay his hands on, into fantastic characters which adorn his property, on the side of Route 400 just west of town. Most of Liggett's sculptures are brightly painted, and many have moving parts that spin and flash in the hot Kansas sun.
The most striking characteristic of Liggett's art, though, is its edgy wit and overt political bite. It is immediately apparent, that Liggett is a man with opinions to spare, which he likes to share.
Most of his sculptures are basically fantastic, funny, ferocious political cartoons. They reach from international themes ("Greeenpeace") to the local (a news anchor skewered as the "CROC-TV Newshound"). A number of figures depict loves of Liggett's life (a charming one is "Enchantress looking for a bow"). Some are captioned in various foreign languages ("Nero Cuore Vecchia Borsa"). Some depict characters that seem to have sprung entirely from Liggett's imagination.
It is difficult to place Liggett on the political spectrum. You may think you have him figured out from works like those depicting Hillary Clinton as "Our Jack-Booted Eva Braun" and Janet Reno as "Queen of Waco" and "Bitch of Buchenwald", and then be scratching your head in front of "Dubya - Bring Back Slick Willie" and "Jesse Helms loves Margaret Thatcher".
The overly-sensitive should be forewarned: there are images here to offend every taste.
Dave Nance
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Bibliography:
"Detour Art—Outsider, Folk Art, and Visionary Folk Art Environments Coast to Coast, Art and Photographs from the Collection of Kelly Ludwig" by Kelly Ludwig, Kansas City Star Books, 2007.
On DVD - Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations, "Back to the Breadbasket," KCPT, Kansas City Public Television, 2004.
"Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art—A guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources" by Betty-Carol Sellen with Cynthia J. Johnson, McFarland & Company, 2000.
"Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations Coast to Coast Travel-o-Pedia" by Randy Mason, et. al., Kansas City Star Books, 2009.
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Driving Directions:
115 miles west of Wichita on US-400 to Mullinville. US-400 merges with Highway 154 and turns into South Avenue. Sculptures are along Highway 400 on the east and west edges of town.
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Road rules:
Please remember to always be respectful of private property, use common courtesy and treat people with kindness. If the location is private, never enter without the owner’s permission.
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