Levi Fisher Ames

Levi Fisher Ames (1843-1923) was a carpenter, a civil war veteran and a self-taught artist who created a vast wooden gathering of creatures. His sculptures represented natural, mythological or bizarre figures, juxtaposed with fight scenes or curious objects. He housed them in wooden shadow boxes which opened like a book, and which he used to show during fairs in a touring tent show named the "L.F. Ames Grand Museum of Art and Natural History," allegedly The Most Wonderful Exhibition Ever. He played music, told stories, and carved in front of the public.