Resting on the corner of a quiet intersection in Seale, Alabama, sits Butch Anthony’s Museum of Wonder. It stands out against the rest of the town —if you don’t see the countless ironwork decorations or bright murals painted on the sides of metal shipping containers, you’ll definitely see the signs beckoning you into “The World’s First Drive-Through Museum.”
The Museum of Wonder is both an art gallery and an oddities display. In the outdoor gallery of shipping containers, glass fronts display rotating exhibits of his personal work, as well as taxidermy specimens and gifted curiosities, such as the world’s largest gallstone from 1972 or a “real” sasquatch foot cast. The first turn into its driveway reveals an imposing mural of Willie Nelson, which reads, fittingly, “Willie Nelson For President.” Giant red spheres that usually line the outside of a Target Superstore have made their home in the drive-through museum as well, each decorated with countless southern and folk sayings. It’s an odd and almost random collection, but the artful curation by Butch Anthony, the artist and owner, changes the experience from just strange to almost otherworldly.
Butch Anthony has been an artist and craftsman for seemingly his entire life. At 14, he built a one-room log cabin that would serve as his own personal workshop. His first exhibit was a dinosaur he found as a teenager, which he then displayed for people to view. His collection grew as created more art and was given more curiosities. He attended Auburn University and studied zoology, geology and biology, which he credits much of his inspiration to. Eventually, Anthony’s collection became too large for its space, and in 2014 the Museum of Wonder was built. When asked to describe his inspiration to expand into such an unconventional display, Anthony said, “as more and more visitors started coming, I wanted to find a way for even more people to experience the art anytime they wanted. That’s how the drive-through Museum of Wonder began. It started with just four shipping containers, and now it’s grown to ten, open 24/7. It’s all about sharing art without traditional boundaries.”
Anthony has been featured in exhibitions both nationwide and globally for almost two decades now, and his original works hang in galleries, museums, restaurants, bars and speakeasies all across the United States. Currently, he is working on a show titled The Persistence of Form in Life’s Remains that will be featured at the Bo Bartlett Center that will include 7 large-scale pieces made from bones.
He has created his own specific art genre called Intertwangleism. His website defines it as “inter = to mix; twang = a distinctive way of speaking, thinking, behaving, assessing; and ism = a theory.” His art is often a blend of iconic classical portraits overlaid with anatomical drawings, sometimes accompanied with humorous phrases. In an interview with NPR, Butch Anthony summarized his own work: “I take old portraits from, like, the 1890s, but then I’ll put bones on top of them, sort of like a X-ray, like, you can see through them.” It toes the line between comical and creepy to create a unique and authentic viewing experience.
The Museum of Wonder is completely viewable from your car, but walking through it allows a closer look at the art and specimens. You could spend hours going through every detail in each window, or just spend a few minutes driving through as a road trip pit stop. This is part of what adds to the museum’s charm; every person’s experience with it is entirely personal and individual.
If you would like to stop and enjoy the World’s First Drive-Through Museum yourself, it is open 24/7 to the public, accessible by car or foot. Entry is free of charge, but donations are appreciated. If you’re looking for a spot that showcases some of the oddest and most obscure parts of Alabamian art and history, find it with Butch Anthony’s installation.
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