JOLIET — For decades, drivers passing through the small town of Joliet have been greeted by whimsical metal sculptures.
They were the work of Charles Ringer Jr., a self-taught artist whose kinetic sculptures transformed discarded materials into playful expressions of life in the West.
Ringer died March 20 at his home in Joliet. He was 77.
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Now, from rural Montana to museum halls across the region, communities and the art world alike are reflecting on the strong legacy he leaves behind.
Along the roadside near his studio, Ringer’s creations still stand: a towering family scene, a dog at their side, a truck reminiscent of a cartoon character, and a cluster of smaller figurines.
“That's your introduction to Chuck Ringer when you come to town," said Dave Engel, a longtime neighbor and owner of Engel’s Coach Shop. "Who has a whole bunch of cowboy hats that turn around when they're blown in the wind? Leave it to Chuck Ringer to figure that out.”
Ringer worked with found materials, reshaping them into figures and forms that often appeared to move with the elements. According to his website, his "sculpture involves both a kinetic and static presence, portraying both complex and whimsical images, creating a visual attractant."
“He has got an imagination that is really cool," said Engel. "How you can take two gas pumps and turn it into two people that are warming their hands over a fire, it takes an imagination to do that, and that's who he is.”
Engel, who also works with metal restoring horse-drawn vehicles, said the two shared a similar creative mindset: seeing possibility in what others might discard.
"I do a lot of blacksmithing work, and he is obviously very much an artist in kinetic metal work, so we kind of have the same direction, mindset," he said. “What kind of stuff can I turn out of everybody else's junk, you know, and he loved it."
Although his work extended far beyond Montana, including pieces held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Ringer remained deeply rooted in Joliet, the town he called home for over 50 years.
“He walks his own path, he does his own thing, and very creative, but he's not a social butterfly," said Engel.
That independent spirit resonated in the Western art world, where Ringer became a longtime participant in the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale, beginning in 1991.
Today, his work continues to be prominently featured at the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, where six of his pieces remain in the collection.
"I think I can safely assume that there is a high concentration of Ringer sculptures spread throughout our Cody community," said Karen McWhorter.
McWhorter, the scarlet curator of Western American art at the museum, said Ringer’s work helped expand how the region defines Western art.
"I've been really thankful for the ways in which Charles's work helped expand our conceptions of what might be considered 'Western,'" said McWhorter. "We in Wyoming and Montana can appreciate this is a place rather shaped by wind, especially, and by water, and I just think that Charles's work, it really tapped that dynamism and that Western character in a layered and really special way."
One of his works, “Prickly Pear,” greets visitors outside the museum, a testament to the enduring presence of his art.
"Charlie's work is an important part of our collection," said McWhorter. "I feel like Charles would have gotten a good laugh out of our protocol of wearing gloves to move the sculptures or to activate them, because they were really meant, as he said, to be durable and attractive and activated. These are kinetic, they're moving works."
Despite his relative solitude, those who knew Ringer say his personality came through clearly in his work: playful and unconventional.
“It's a legacy that really is one of, I think, joy and appreciation for the natural world," said McWhorter.
Ringer's legacy will continue to live on, not only in the spaces where his art lies but in the hearts of those who knew him and enjoyed what he offered the world.
"My first memory of him is this is an old hippie that never quit. It's just his lifestyle," said Engel. "But beyond the beard and the hair and the leftover of the 60s era, he was a very creative master artist. Yeah, he was really cool.”
