Temple of Tolerance - Jim Bowsher
Artist-built Environment | Environment | Private property - Visible from the street
Jim Bowsher loves local history. He loves having it come alive for people, and not just being some stuffy thing in a book. That's part of why he built what he calls the Temple of Tolerance in his backyard. Well, actually, in three backyards that he purchased to make room for the giant glacial rocks that stand at the heart of it.
Jim's also an amateur archaeologist with a penchant for finding so-called banded rocks indigenous to this part of northern Ohio - the result of volcanic activity a long, long time ago. He tracks down these enormous boulders, then moves them into place in the yard with levers, no power tools, and in doing so has created a stately, majestic backyard environment quite unlike any other we've seen.
In and around the rocks, he's added pieces from old buildings and farmsteads around Wapakoneta. When people roam around and over the Temple of Tolerance, the energies from those structures inspire dialogue and memories. And that's how history should be taught, he believes.
Jim says airplane pilots have come to his door because they couldn't believe what they saw flying over it. And oh yes, there's bluegrass music here on warm Thursday nights. You're invited.
Jim Bowsher: 1948-
Creation dates: 1981-1999
203 South Wood Street
Wapakoneta, OH
419-738-4474
https://jimbowsher.com/the-temple-of-tolerance/
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On DVD - Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations, "Next Stop New England", KCPT, Kansas City Public Television, 2003.
"Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations Coast to Coast Travel-o-Pedia" by Randy Mason, et. al., Kansas City Star Books, 2009.
