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Culture
Museum in Angier Displays Gourds Galore
Gourds painted like the characters in the famous painting American Gothic are among hundreds on display in Angier’s municipal building.
Until Harnett County resident Marvin Johnson passed away at age 93‚ he kept his extensive and fascinating collection of gourds and gourd art in a quaint museum on his farm near Angier. This local treasure was nearly lost after Johnson’s death and the subsequent sale of his property.
Today‚ thanks to the efforts of Angier’s former mayor‚ Wanda Gregory‚ the gourds have a new home in the meeting room of Angier’s municipal building‚ where 200 to 300 at a time are on display in a dozen glass cases.
Marvin Johnson first became interested in gourds back in the 1960s‚ and‚ according to Joe Pleasant‚ Angier town commissioner‚ “if he couldn’t grow the best or the most odd‚ it wasn’t worth anything.”
Pleasant remembers Marvin Johnson as a brilliant and talented man who could make almost anything and knew a good bit about everything. A teacher by profession‚ he enjoyed sharing his knowledge with others.
“If you asked him something‚ you better be ready to hear the answer. Most of the time‚ he was 100 percent right. He was a delightful fella‚ and he took a delight in anybody who came by there. He could talk to a child or a professor‚” Pleasant says.
Perhaps that’s why he was able to collect gourds from all over the world and attract visitors from every continent to his museum.
The collection includes interesting gourd art pieces like Mother Goose’s cat and the fiddle‚ Popeye the Sailor Man‚ the Spirit of ’76 and numerous patriotic-themed gourds‚ a dipper taller than a man‚ and a gourd lady that stands over 4 feet tall. “Everything about her is gourds‚ except for some of her clothes‚” Pleasant says.
Gourd shapes and sizes range from miniature gourds smaller than a bird’s egg to giant African mammoth gourds sturdy enough to bear the weight of an adult.
Story by Carol Cowan
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