The Rural Carving Museum of Nicolae Nica arose as a result of the efforts of Nea Nica on June 1, 1979.
In 1994, Nicolae Nica has agreed to donate to the state the museum which created one from scratch and where he gathered articles from local patrimony in order to preserve the heritage of the region. By what he collected in the museum, Nicolae Nica has directly contributed to the rescue of historical and ethnographic heritage of north side of county Olt. Nea Nica, as he was used to being called was born on February 7th 1917 in the village of Chilia town Fagetelu, Olt county, in a hardworking peasant family , his parents – Marin and Floarea giving him as guidelines in life, honor, humanity and the cult of work. She discovered her love for woodcarving thanks to his father, who shared the first secrets of wood. Subsequently, in most of his works, Nicolae Nica recreated fragments of the rural world, with crafts and traditions. The craftsman of Fagetelu had, along time, numerous personal exhibitions and participated in many grup events, such as, symposiums or exhibitions of craftsmen. The awards received and the value of his works caused his election as an honorary member of the Academy of Traditional Arts ASTRA Sibiu. He founded the Cultural Foundation “Nicolae M. Nica”, which was concerned about the establishment of school library and organizing arts and crafts courses for young people in his village Chilia Fagetelu: woodcarving, weaving, sewing.
He was incorporated for military service in March 1939. The calvary of the Second World War caused his determination for fighting in June 29, 1940. He directly participated in the campaign in the East having the military rank of sergeant. On 24 November 1943 during the Battle of Melitopol, he was reported missing in war; the bitter reality was that he fell prisoner and had to fight for life and human dignity in the hell of Russian camps. On 25 May 1948, Nea Nica was released from captivity and returned home. Between 1959-1962 he attended the Pitesti Popular School of Art, specializing in sculpture. After 1965 he dedicated himself to the research and selection of historical artifacts from his village. In 2006 he was declared “Honorary Citizen” of Olt County. Although he received many important offers in order to sell from its works, Nea Nica did not sell not even a piece because he wanted to establish a museum, the one that todayis the Rural Carving Museum of Nicolae Nica.