Most people who spend their working lives repairing other people’s equipment do not expect to spend retirement building an elaborate work of folk art. Perhaps a veggie patch in the back or a fishing pole. Few grab a pair of tile nippers and a bucket of shattered mirrors. On Elgin Street in Durham, North Carolina, Gene Dillard began filling his yard with metal sculptures around 2000 and started covering his house with mosaics around 2015, according to a PBS North Carolina profile . Dillard says he had never made art before taking on the project and had spent his working life as a repairman. The SPACES archives document the home’s mirror-covered exterior, backyard spaceship, pottery fence, and yard sculptures. None of it was meant as a business. Dillard says he doesn't sell his art and has manufactured most of it with modest hand tools.
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