Mel Gould's Buryville in Cheyenne, WY
Ah....back on the road again. This time to visit a friend in Jackson Hole, WY. About 10 miles east of Cheyenne on I-80, I saw what looked like homemade sculptures off to my right, and realized that it just might be Buryville, the sculpture environment of Mel Gould. Mel has been called an artist, scientist, engineer and genius, although he considers himself a tinkerer and pack rat.
Although he never had a formal education as an engineer, he spent 20 years working for a Denver-based manufacturing company. One of the his inventions were the earth anchors that run deep in the ground to secure telephone poles. This invention led him to working with Bulgarian artist Christo on his environmental art projects including "Running Fence" in Colorado and the 1,500 umbrella project in Japan and California.
Now retired, Mel spends countless hours tinkering around his yard with his wind-powered sculptures that are both a pleasure to watch and generate power for his modest home. But don't let looks deceive you. 12 feet below his home lies "Buryville," an artist studio/engineering lab/music room all created out of a school bus, a camper, an old grain silo on it's side and a 55,000 gallon concrete gasoline tank.
His wife, Opal, showed us her favorite invention - a homemade evelator made from an old school locker - which takes her from the kitchen down to the basement to do laundry.
Down in Buryville...
Mel shares one of the many articles written about his inventions, such as the "Purple People Eater" a 6-wheeled vehicle.
Mr. Cranky powers a large carousel made from pipes and light shades
The "Wind Thing" that generates enough power to light Buryville.