Wisconsin Public Television
Transcript: “In Wisconsin,” Episode #923
Original Airdate: April 28, 2011
2INW0923

- This week, we dedicate our show to "In Wisconsin" reporter Jo Garrett and her crew as they head into retirement. The first place Jo takes you is into a backyard unlike any other. This one is filled with critters and lots of creatures and lots of-- Well, there's a reason why it's called Jurustic Park. Come along and explore the wild world of an eclectic artist in Marshfield.

- What is this? It started with this. We're in the backyard of this man, Clyde Wynia.

- I made that about 17 years ago and hung it up in the tree here. Never intended to make anymore. And then one day one of the neighbors came along and he said where did you ever get something like that? The first thing that came to my mind was well, I said I dug it out of the marsh out here. 
(eerie noises and metal clanging)
 
They inhabited the marsh during the Iron Age, but they're all extinct now. I couldn't stop with one. I've been digging them up and welding them back together ever since.

- He couldn't stop, and now years and thousands of sculptures, I mean, excavations, later, Wynia's backyard, just outside of Marshfield, is thick with his critters.

- You'll notice everything is rusty. We used to paint some things, but I got tired of it, so we just stayed straight with rust. So Jurustic Park.

- The neighbors are very tolerant. 
(chuckles)
 Thank goodness.- Nan Wynia, Clyde's wife, is also an artist. Her studio is in the middle of Jurustic Park.

- Calls it her hobbit house, so I had to hire a couple hobbits to stand out front.

- When he first started doing these and had them on the deck and people got wind of it, pretty soon people were driving in our driveway.

- It was Nan who got the critters herded off the deck and into the backyard. Did you ever think your yard would look like this?

- Oh, no. No, no, no. All of a sudden it just exploded. That was 13 years ago. And it just, puff!

- We get 15,000 people just in the summertime.

- You can, of course, view Jurustic Park all on your own, but the total experience is best had walking the place with Wynia.

- Now, these are Wisconsin piranhas. Vicious fishes.

- That's because the sculptures, I mean excavations, often have a story.

- Now, here's a marsh cow. Now, you see those fins that look like shovels? They're for cooling purposes. It's hot in the marsh. They'll flip themselves over on their back and dig themselves right into the muck.

- Ingenious.

- Yeah. Now, this is a swivel-headed swamp watcher. He does 360 degrees. 
(bell clangs)

Keeps his eye out for acid rain. And then he can warn the others. We're working with the hospital now, and it looks like we'll be able to use it as a backup for the ambulance helicopter. Got a good old, weathered, rusty system.

- This is not a place of static visuals.

- This is Cheeky, my new bird.

- It's amazing for excavated animals. They have a lot of motion to them, don't they?

- Yeah.

- They don't stay still.

- Yeah, we'll re-grease them. 
(metal clanging)

- Ding Dong and Donna.

- It seems that Wynia's art manifesto could be summed up in one word: play.- Isn't that pathetic. He says it's spring-a-form cephalopathy.

It's chronic rusting disease.- What happened in here? What's his story?

- That's a Kevorkian gunslinger. 
(bell clangs)
 You know, she'll do that with a 800-pound skirt.- She's a gal in motion, isn't she?

- (Clyde Wynia purrs)

- This doesn't quite fit with the classical artists. Have you noticed that?- Jurustic Park is the kind of place where the phrase, a willing suspension of disbelief, really adds to the experience.

It moves.

- Of course, it moves. This is a class operation, lady.

- This would be a great office chair. 
(metal clangs)

Yes, it's best just to surrender. Surrender to the fun.

- Hey, you know what a bottle rocket is, don't you? Stand over there. I'm going to fire one off.

- [Jo] Note, that current Wisconsin law on fireworks requires a permit if a fireworks device explodes or leaves the ground. Can I stand right here?

- Yeah.- Do I have to worry about a workplace injury? That law doesn't apply-- we checked-- when the bottle rocket is a bottle of water.

- That way you wouldn't get wet.

You should be down there. 
(all laugh)

- We'll take your word for it.

- Wait a minute. Ready? You got to look way up. Three, two, one, up. 
(water swishes)
 
I'll show you what makes that work. You see that hose? Runs in the shop there. My wife's in there blowing. 
(bad joke sound effect)
 
Nice lungs, huh? She's a really good woman, you know.- Nan Wynia might be called the co-conspirator of Jurustic Park. She's a talented artist in many media, currently working in glass.

- The faster I move it, the thinner it gets. So, I don't want to pull it too fast. I'm going to get it hot right there and let the heat equalize and push it together, make a little Maria, it's called.

- And like Clyde, Nan's art seems sparked by play.

- (Nan chuckles)
It's fun. Look how this glass behaves. It's wonderful. And when it's cool, I can take it and use this punty as a-- and make a loop de loop... --That's a very technical term, loop de loop-- ...on the top, so we can hang it. 
(chuckles)

- The Wynia's are both retired. Clyde worked as a lawyer and Nan was a nurse. Their art is now the center of their lives.

- We describe it as play because we don't describe it as work, because we're loving it.

- You have to give yourself permission. Mine doesn't look like that person's, but that's okay. It's mine. It's a little wonky, but so am I.

- I don't think of myself as much of an artist. I just think I'm having fun. I'm having a ball. Positron, very affirmative bird. She flies... and sings. 
(clang)

- Play. You can see that manifesto in all its glory in the Wynia backyard. 
§ §

- Clyde Wynia always welcomes visitors to Jurustic Park just outside Marshfield. You can find out more by going to our website at wpt.org and then click on "In Wisconsin."