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Finding Minnesota

Metal marvels on display at Arnie Lillo's Creations in Blue Earth County

By
John Lauritsen
John Lauritsen
Reporter
John Lauritsen is an Emmy award-winning reporter from Montevideo, Minn. He joined WCCO-TV in late-July of 2007. Two days after he started, the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed.
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John Lauritsen

/ CBS Minnesota

A few miles outside the town of Good Thunder, Minnesota, at Arnie Lillo's Creations, you'll come across dozens of animals on parade. Except, they aren't really going anywhere.

"A lot of people forget to follow the road all the way around and I'm like, 'Oh, there's always more in back," said Robyn Block, owner.

Block had a hand in crafting many of these creations out of metal. A skillset she learned from a man named Arnie Lillo.

"I asked him if he would show me one day and he did. And I just kind of hung around. I never left," said Block.

Lillo himself was a jack of all trades — a ginseng farmer, an inventor and a metal artist for decades.

Thanks to Lillo, you can stand on the Golden Gate Bridge and take pictures of the Eiffel Tower. He built it for his wife when she had cancer.

"She always wanted to go to Paris. So he built the Eiffel Tower for her so she could see it and got it done before she passed away," said Block.

Lillo himself died in 2021, leaving Block to carry on his legacy.

She and fellow artist Dayton Lawson use a computer and a plasma board to turn heavy metal into art.

"There are new things every day to look at. It always surprises me that we get new pieces every day and it'll never stop expanding," said Lawson.

They are picking up where Lillo left off. Adding to his military exhibit, Crazy Horse display and gallery of unique oddities. 

They even have a Jesse James theme park on site. There are 50 pieces of James and his posse. It took Lillo six months to make them.

"He was great. He loved to talk about all of his creations and show people how to run his machinery if people wanted to," said Block.

Their next project will honor people with disabilities.

"It is going to be disabilities of all kinds to show what people with disabilities have achieved. And what we are capable of," said Block.

The facility is a celebration of creativity through craftsmanship. And the artists believe Lillo would be proud, especially when visitors travel from miles away to take it all in.

"I hope they are able to learn, and see and get ideas. We have a lot of people who come out and I let them paint and do things. It's awesome. I hope they find joy in it as well," said Block.

Lillo is also credited with making the world's largest shooting rifle, which uses golf balls for ammunition.

There is also a museum on site that details his life and work available to see for free.

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