Ross Ward

Ross Ward was born to paint, carve and tinker. As a boy growing up in the Midwest, he was captivated by the tiny villages, farms and circuses created by “spare time carvers.” His own miniature world began with circus figures carved while in junior high school – now on display at the museum. He began carving the first figures for the turn-of-the-century general store in 1962.

Ross carved and built his folk art environment as a hobby for most of his adult life but he was even more prolific in his artistic endeavors of painting, etching, drawing and sculpture. A self taught artist, he was a show painter for carnivals for over 30 years, traveling the country painting on all the major carnival shows and in winter quarters from Texas to Florida.

Far more than an impressive collection of miniatures and memorabilia of all kinds, Tinkertown is a living testimonial to Ross Ward’s belief in self determination and independence. It is evidence of his singular pursuit of creating a true folk art environment in the style of Grandma Prisby’s Bottle Village in California and Reverend Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden in Georgia. It has grown from a one-room museum welcoming 943 visitors in 1983 to a roadside attraction hosting over 20,000 visitors in 2004.

In February of 1998, at age 57, Ross was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease and passed away November 13, 2002.