Tinkertown Museum

 

We were in New Mexico recently, visiting family, and we visited the Tinkertown Museum, which is on the Turquoise Trail between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Created by Ross J. Ward over a 40 year period, Tinkertown is a collection of fantastic folk art made by him. A self-taught artist, he painted carnival signs for 30 years, all the while also carving out miniature wood pieces of all kinds to create a folk art environment that is now the Tinkertown Museum. It is full- and I mean full- of his work. It covers every surface of the tiny rooms in the space. But somehow it feels happy and decidedly UN-chaotic to me. Instead, it feels like the result of the true passion doing exactly what they wanted to do. We had the chance to talk to his widow, Carla, and she described his passion for creating the roadside attraction we are able to visit now.