Q. J.'s Earth Museum, (sculpture).

Q. J.'s Earth Museum, (sculpture).

Stephenson, Q. J., 1920- , sculptor.

Q. J.'s Earth Museum, (sculpture).

Occoneechee Trapper's Lodge, (sculpture).

Earth Museum, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Stone, stucco, wood, and found objects including fossilized shells and bones, minerals, arrowheads, Civil War relics, petrified wood, bottles, crystal, antlers, shark and beaver teeth, cypress knees, glass electrical insulators, soapstone, meteorites, and concrete.

Approx. W. 20 ft. x D. 20 ft.

(Exterior of museum, incised lettering:) NATURAL/TRACKS OF/WILD ANIMALS/FOSSILS/FROM THE/EARTH AROUND/US/NORTHHAMPTON-HALIFAX/COUNTIES/PETRIFIED WOOD 30 KINDS/INDIAN ARROWHEADS/METEORITE SOAPSTONE/FOSSIL SEA SHELLS/CIVIL WAR RELICS/FIFTY YEARS ALONG/THE CREEKS AND/IN THE SWAMPS/Q.J. (Exterior of museum, incised lettering:) LOCAL/ANCIENT ARROWHEADS/FOOD PLANTS OF THE INDIANS/MAY APPLE signed

Q. J.'s Earth Museum is a one-story stone, stucco, and log cabin adorned with numerous sculptures and small plaques created from regional artifacts. The pieces throughout the museum change as they are sold and replaced. Included among the objects that have been used to create the pieces are fossilized shells and bones, sperm whale tusks, minerals, Indian arrowheads, Civil War relics, petrified wood, bottles, crystal, antlers, shark and beaver teeth, cypress knees, and glass electrical insulators. Slogans and inscriptions are placed throughout the museum. Fossils, rocks, and leaf and fern imprints in concrete fill a porch and overflow into the yard. The chimney is topped with a sculpture of a beaver.

Architecture -- Domestic -- House

Ethnic -- Indian

Animal -- Beaver

Outdoor Sculpture -- North Carolina -- Garysburg

Architectural component

Stephenson, Q. J., P. O. Box 237, Garysburg, North Carolina 27831

The artist is a fossil collector, hunter, and folk artist who began the museum in 1979, serving as a repository for his collections and displays. Visitors are invited to view the exterior of the Earth Museum at any time, but the interior is seen by appointment only.

IAS files contain: an article from Folk Art Messenger (Winter 1993): pg. 8-9; newspaper articles from The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), Aug. 8, 1994, Aug. 18, 1994, pg. 2E, 7E; the Northhampton News, May 25, 1994, pg. 12;an excerpt from Roger Manley's "Signs and Wonders, Outsider Art Inside North Carolina," Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1982, pg. 19, 22, 86, 88, 100.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, North Carolina survey, 1994.

The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), Aug. 18, 1994, pg. 1E.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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