This year’s featured installation started with an unusual find: an old carousel sculpture discovered on Facebook Marketplace by Tom Pollard of Lawrence Lights. Its original artist and exact age are unknown, but the piece is believed to date back several decades, likely to the early 1990s. It had spent years outdoors in a private yard in rural, southeast Missouri before making its way to Lawrence.

Restoring it has become a collaborative project. Members of Lawrence Lights have helped bring the structure back to life, rebuilding the original motor and developing a weather-resistant housing using a repurposed oil barrel. When the restored motor proved unable to reliably turn the carousel, it was replaced with a stronger unit.

Electrician Mike Howard is helping solve another challenge: getting power to a structure that continuously rotates. A slip ring installed within the carousel allows electricity to pass from the stationary base into the rotating structure while maintaining power to the lights as it turns.

YellowBug Creative is developing the new lighting treatment and will handle installation of the completed piece at Free State Business Center.

The 2026 display will serve as a preview of the restored carousel before it becomes part of a larger new installation at Lawrence Lights in 2027.