Jurustic Park

Minnesota Museum of the Mississippi and other Natural Wonders

Jurustic Park - Marshfield, Wisconsin

112021 Old Sugarbush Lane, Marshfield WI

Jurustic Park

Jurustic Park is a showcase for the fantasy paleontological discoveries of Clyde Wynia. The artist claims, with a wink, that his scrap metal sculptures were fossil remnants of ancient creatures dug up at McMillan Marsh on the other side of downtown Marshfield. Clyde tells a lot of stories amd jokes about the creations, some of which seem created just for a punchline, a one-liner or a ribald joke. Then he'll jump ahead to pull on cables to make a marionette-like Jabberwock lunge dramatically, or set in motion the springy neck of a six-legged monster. A few minutes later he's placing a plastic bottle on a nozzle to launch an air powered rocket over the trees. In his 80s, he has a youthful energy showing visitors around the sculptures in the garden next to his house.

Clyde worked as a lawyer in Marshfield for decades. His wife Nancy worked as a nurse. They raised three children in a historic house along the Eau Pleine River. They also enjoyed creating art and crafts which they showed and sold at local art fairs. Clyde wrote a book about candle-dipping, set up a kiln for ceramics, experimented with glass-blowing and later stained-glass. Nancy did acrylic paintings and later life-sized dolls made of felt. In the early 1990s, Clyde began welding scrap metal bits into whimsical "Marsh Critters" from the "Iron Age". He created multiples of small flying turtles and anthropomorphic frogs for sale at art fairs. A few years later, a visit to Dr. Evermor's Forevertron may have encouraged him to go bigger. Now fifteen-foot tall dragons and fierce dinosaurs stalk the forest, while smaller cats, frogs and flying pigs scamper about near the barn. Smaller pieces are for sale, or 100-year lease. Most of the creatures gain a liveliness from handmade glass eyes, giving them either a fierce glare or a humorous blank gaze.

As the welded sculptures took over the garden, Clyde built an art studio for Nancy they call the "Hobbit House". Here she demonstrates spinning local wool into yarn and fusing glass into jewelry for sale. After retirement, the couple were able to pursue their art full time. Nowadays they enjoy chatting with tens of thousands of visitors who visit the garden each summer. The park is a popular stop for tour groups and out-of-town visitors. The garden is open daily from summer through fall.