I’m just back from a magical jaunt to Lucas, Kansas, where I attended its annual April-Fools-A-Palooza. You may know Lucas as the home of S.P. Dinsmoor’s Garden of Eden. Built as a roadside attraction in the early 1900s, the concrete “log cabin” home and the dozens of sculptures that surround it have drawn generations of tourists — and artists — to the tiny town, population 400ish. 

For a single glorious day, artists organize happenings and open their studios to visitors. This year I: 

• Chatted with artist Mri-Pilar at her “Garden of Isis”
• Saw a tiny sequined diorama by Barbara McCreery inside one of the PO boxes at the Lucas post office (and visited the artist’s gorgeous home studio)
• Listened to Matthew Farley talk about the restoration of the Florence Deeble Rock Garden
• Toured a spectacular new second-floor gallery at the Grassroots Art Center
• Filled my pockets with baubles from Erika Nelson’s World's Largest Things, Inc.
• Agonized over what treasures to bring home from Switchgrass, a nonprofit artist cooperative, thrift store and coffee shop
• Attended a poetry workshop led by SHOUT contributor (and my dear friend) Lori Brack, who’s responsible for getting me to Lucas in the first place…

…and so much more! In all, visitors could explore 16 sites around town.

I’m already looking forward to next year. 

— Emily Christensen is the editor of The SHOUT.

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