Magic Town by artist Michael Garman. Photo by Elaine Skylar Neal / Travels and Curiosities

Inside the ultra-curious world of Michael Garman’s Magic Town

February 10, 2020

Wherever we go in our travels, we try to find local galleries and artists to check out and support. And so when we heard about a museum of miniatures in Old Colorado City, we simply had to see it for ourselves.

Magic Town is a 3,000-square-foot living dollhouse that artist, Michael Garman, describes on his website as “A gritty blend of Walt Disney and Normal Rockwell.” In Magic Town, things aren’t what they seem, says Garman, his voice recycling on an audio loop, an image of his likeness appearing in a tiny hologram as he introduces this place to first-timers like us. We were lucky enough to bump into Michael, who is just as charming and warm as the immersive world he’s created. “I’ll show you a few things. This is my stuff,” he added, asking if we understood how it all worked. When we said we had just noticed the mirrors, he responded with, “Oh, so you’re really looking.”

Once he said that, I fully understood what he meant. This isn’t the kind of art gallery to stroll through until something catches your eye. This is a visual overload x 1,000 and then reduced to a 1:6 scale. Those mirrors I mentioned, they’re everywhere, wedged and angled into corners you’d never expect. They’re also spotless—kudos to whoever has that job—which makes them even harder to see. Along with the holograms—again numerous—they allow for some serious optical illusion trickery. One minute you’re staring into a dim side street, and in a blink the scene changes entirely.

You almost feel a bit like a Peeping Tom, and I think, at least in part, Garman wants you to. Through an upstairs window, a bedroom at first sits empty. Linger a bit longer and the scene changes, revealing a topless woman changing her clothes. You really have to let your eyes drift between the countless moments and interactions painstakingly created here in this moving portrait of urban America.

It took Michael Garman 10 years and $1 million to create this unique complex of dioramas. The Texas-born sculptor and storyteller was a true nomad in his youth, hitchhiking his way through North and South America starting in 1959. You can read more about his amazing journey at MichaelGarman.com, which tells of his influences and developments as an artist from childhood to today.