“I Did All This While You Were Watching TV”: The Infinite Imagination of Ross Ward and His Tinkertown

SANDIA PARK, N.M. — If you drive up the Turquoise Trail toward the Sandia Mountains, the air gets thinner, the piñon pines get thicker, and reality begins to bend just slightly. Tucked into this high-desert landscape is a place that defies architectural logic and embraces pure, unadulterated whimsy: Tinkertown Museum.

From the outside, it looks like a fever dream of recycling—a sprawling labyrinth constructed from over 50,000 glass bottles held together by cement and sheer willpower. But step inside, and you enter the mind of Ross Ward, a man who never let a single moment of his life go to waste.

The Carnival Painter with a Pocketknife

Ross Ward was not a traditionally trained artist; he was a “tinker” in the truest sense. Born in South Dakota in 1940, Ward spent his early career as a carnival painter, traveling the country to paint the bright, garish banners and backdrops that promised magic on the midway. But while the carnival was his job, his passion lived in his pocket.

Beginning in 1962, while serving in the Army, Ward started carving. He didn’t carve grand statues; he carved tiny, intricate figures of people. Cowboys, circus performers, store clerks, and ne’er-do-wells. What started as a way to kill time became a compulsion.

By the time he settled in New Mexico with his wife Carla, the collection had outgrown their living room. In 1983, they opened Tinkertown as a roadside attraction to house his “Little People.” It started as one room. It didn’t stay that way.

A World in Miniature

The heart of Tinkertown is its animation. Ward didn’t just carve figures; he gave them life. Push a button, and a miniature Western town—complete with a general store, saloon, and boot hill—springs into action. A blacksmith hammers iron, a drunk teeters on a balcony, and a little girl skips rope.

But masterpiece of it all is the circus. A chaotic, joyful riot of color, the circus diorama took Ward 20 years to complete. Miniature trapeze artists fly through the air, tigers roar, and clowns tumble, all set to the tinny, nostalgic soundtrack of carnival music. It is a masterclass in folk art, capturing the grimy, glorious spirit of the traveling shows Ward knew so well.

The Walls That Sing

While the miniatures are the stars, the building itself is the supporting actor that steals the show. Inspired by folk art environments like Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village in California, Ward built the museum’s walls out of glass bottles.

Sunlight filters through the amber beer bottles and green soda glass, bathing the dark, winding hallways in a stained-glass glow. It feels less like a museum and more like a cathedral dedicated to the odd and the discarded.

Among the exhibits, you’ll find “Otto the One-Man Band” (who will play you a tune for a quarter) and “Esmeralda the Fortune Teller.” You’ll even find a 35-foot ocean-going sailboat, the Theodora R, which somehow found its final resting place in a landlocked mountain range after sailing around the world for ten years.

A Legacy of “Doing”

The most haunting artifact in the museum isn’t a carving or an antique. It is a simple hand-painted sign that reads: “I did all this while you were watching TV.”

It is a gentle rebuke and a powerful manifesto. Ward was a man of ceaseless energy. Even when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1998 at the age of 57, he didn’t stop. When he could no longer carve wood safely, he began gluing pennies and bottle caps to his 1961 Jeep, turning the vehicle into an art car that sits outside the museum today.

Ross Ward passed away in 2002, but his spirit is palpably present in every dusty corner of the 22-room labyrinth. Today, the museum is lovingly maintained by his widow, Carla, and their family. They ensure that the animatronics still dance, the bottle walls still glow, and the magic remains intact.

Tinkertown is more than a collection of toys; it is a monument to the creative impulse. It asks every visitor the same silent question: What could you build if you just turned off the TV?

If You Go:

• Location: 121 Sandia Crest Rd, Sandia Park, NM 87047 (on the Turquoise Trail National Scenic Byway)
• Season: Open seasonally (typically April through October).
• Don’t Miss: Bring quarters. You will want them for the antique arcade machines and the automated music boxes.
• Visit Tinkertown’s website: Visit Tinkertown online.