Todd Goings one of 10 artists named National Heritage Fellow
A brief history of East Providence’s Looff Carousel in Crescent Park
The Looff Carousel in East Providence is still running stronger after 127 years.
Wheeler Cowperthwaite, The Providence Journal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Marion County’s Todd W. Goings, known around the country as America’s “carousel doctor,” has been named a 2024 National Heritage Fellow — the highest national recognition for folk and traditional artists.
Every year since 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in Washington, D.C. has presented this lifetime honor in recognition of individuals whose dedication and artistry contribute to the preservation and growth of the diverse cultural traditions that comprise our nation. Each fellowship includes a $25,000 award. Recipients will be honored in a public ceremony in Washington this fall.
A renowned carousel carver and full-service carousel restorationist for over 35 years, Goings is one of 10 artists in the country receiving this year’s award. He is the only 2024 National Heritage Fellow from Ohio and is the first carousel artist in the history of the National Heritage Fellowship program to win this recognition.
“I am honored to announce the 10 gifted recipients that have been named 2024 NEA National Heritage Fellows,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “Through their dedication to and generous stewardship of their traditions and cultures, these artists and culture bearers carry forward their knowledge and passion to future generations. They offer us the opportunity to see things from different perspectives, help us make sense of the world, and celebrate our rich collective heritage comprised of our diverse lived experiences.”
Goings has restored carousels from New York to Oklahoma
Born in Mansfield and raised in Caledonia, Goings came to carousels through an early passion for woodworking with jobs in cabinetry, millwork, patternmaking and woodcarving. He opened Carousels & Carvings, a full-service artisan carousel workshop, in Marion in 1997. It is one of only a handful of shops in the country specializing in restoring and building whole carousels.
Over the course of his career, Goings has restored dozens of carousels across the country, from Philadelphia and New York City, to Tennessee and Oklahoma. Locally, his business provides training and careers for artisans, craftspeople, engineers, and technicians in North Central Ohio.
Goings was nominated for the National Heritage Fellowship by Marion Voices Folklife + Oral History — a Caledonia-based folk arts non-profit serving Marion County and the wider region — with support from members of the National Carousel Association, including carousel historian, documentarian and advocate Barbara Fahs Charles, carousel restorer Rosa V. Patton, and Thomas J. Forney, conservation chairman for the National Carousel Association.
“This award could not go to a more deserving traditional arts practitioner. We are so excited for Todd, the shop and the entire carousel community for this enormous honor,” Marion Voices Co-Founder and Executive Director Jess Lamar Reece Holler said. “Todd’s award is not just a celebration of his incredible career and craftsmanship but is a national referendum on the value and excellence of traditional arts here in North Central Ohio.”
An artform remarkably unchanged for 125 years
For Goings – who is on a trip installing and repairing carousels across the East Coast with his crew in anticipation of the launch of this summer’s amusements season – carousels are an art form that has remained remarkably unchanged the past 125 years. He said that is what makes all the hard work worthwhile.
“When you step back, flip the switch, and the lights come on, and the carousel animals are all there, as prim and proper and happy-looking as can be, and then they start going around, doing the job they were intended to do … and then the people come, that’s just the best part,” Goings said. “We’ve extended its life. That’s why it all matters.”
