sounds great

99% Invisible: Great Balls of Twine

A conversation about the fight for supremecy in the landscape of World’s Largest Balls of Twines.

Listen to the full episode by clicking the logo, with Erika talking about why it’s important in the Coda.

07.16.2019

High Visibility: On Location in Rural America and Indian Country

Traveling in Place: Erika Nelson

Independent artist and educator Erika Nelson discusses the communities, places, and artworks that tell the story of her two-year journey living in a vehicle and meeting people who built Visionary Art Environments and Roadside Vernacular Architecture across the United States - and discusses the development of her own traveling roadside attraction and museum.

11.16.2021

Atlas Obscura, The Podcast

In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we visit with artist Erika Nelson, who didn’t set out in life to become one of the foremost connoisseurs of large things. But her museum in Lucas, Kansas, has become the ultimate tribute to the roadside attraction.

09.20.2021

TEDxKC

Museum of the world's largest things ... that are small:
As the curator of The world's Largest Museum of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things — Erika Nelson is a professional wanderer and visitor of roadside attractions.

07.2020

Slate How To!
How to Put your Town on the Map

On this episode of How To!, we bring on roadside attraction aficionado Erika Nelson. She’s the creator of the World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things. She’s also an artist who helps towns like Smyrna develop their own car-stopping attractions. She decodes the magic of the most wondrous roadside attractions and explains why hosting a Guinness World Record–holding object is not the only key to success. You also have to tell a good story.

10.11.2022

Ask a Kansan, powered by Fili Creative
Big Little Big Kansan: Erika Nelson

In this episode of Ask a Kansan, Sydney and Gus sit down with Erika Nelson—an independent artist, educator, and roadside attraction enthusiast. Erika shares how her passion for unconventional art and storytelling has taken her across the country in search of the world's largest things. She brings those experiences back home to Kansas through her unique project: The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things. Based in Lucas, Kansas, Erika's whimsical and thought-provoking work invites us to see art and community in unexpected places. .

08.08.2025

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