Jurassic ArtPhil Brinkley

Phil Brinkley learned to weld in 1998 from his brother-in-law and father-in-law. From there, he quickly began building dinosaurs, dragons, knights, and other fantastical creatures out of old car parts and farming equipment. These figures started to pop up around Brinkley’s one-acre property in Rose Hill, which he would go on to name “Jurassic Art”.

As you enter the circle driveway, you are greeted by a metal archway adorned with winding leaves and its name, Jurassic Art, across the top.  The yard is filled with a spattering of real and imagined sights – a pack of raptors riding motorcycles, lifesize eagles, small scorpions, and the focal point of the yard, the knight and dragon. The dragon stands 20-ft tall and across the tableau is a 7-ft knight, Sir Allen, with his sword ready to defend against the beast. 

The property also has a graveyard dedicated to discontinued auto brands, complete with its own Grim Reaper to watch over the graves and visitors. Brinkley mainly creates works for his own yard, but he does make smaller discrete works for sale and takes larger commissions depending on the project. In Wichita, Trinity Christian Academy has their own monument sized knight and the Museum of World Treasures has one of Phil’s T-Rex sculptures in the front. Phil has started constructing Transformer-like figures with the prehistoric skeletons, and works like “Solar Vortex Time Machine” and “USS Enterprise” have emerged in recent years.

The property also has Heavy Metal Restorations and Margaret Brinkley's Spiritual Healing and Consultation Studio on site – both operated by the Brinkley family. Visitors are welcome to drive through the property using the circle driveway, or they may park and get out to take closer pictures of the sculptures, any time they would like. The yard is open 24/7, but the Jurassic Art Shop is open Monday-Saturday 9AM-5PM.

– Narrative by Leah Zuberer (SPACES intern), 2025

Sources:

• https://www.derbyinformer.com/news/jurassic-art-is-one-of-a-kind-in-rose-hill/article_e2f6d177-9618-58c8-87dc-ef3196fe9f88.html
• https://fredscruton.com/folios/brinkley/
• http://kansastravel.org/jurassicart.htm

Found objects, car parts, farming equipment parts

256 West Rosewood Street
Rose Hill, Kansas, 67133 us
Latitude/Longitude: 37.5795869 / -97.139

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