Looking Back: The Lady Art Car

 

The Lady Art Car, 2005, at our home in Belton, TX

In 2002, the George W. Bush administration began spreading misinformation on Iraq to prepare for war against the regime that, in the end, while oppressive and violent, had neither weapons of mass destruction nor anything to do with the attacks of September 11, 2001.  

At the time, I was teaching full-time at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia, and was thinking of how to respond to the testosterone-laden messages dominating the news. Friends of mine who know a lot about folk art had introduced me to the concept of art cars, ordinary cars modified into personal expressions of art. They told me of their friend Harrod Blank, documentary filmmaker and art car artist, who drove his art car Oh My God in the Houston Art Car parade in 1988, one of the earliest parades. (He has produced documentaries and published books on the art car phenomenon.)

The annual Houston Art Car parade is the biggest art car parade in the world. I became determined to create an art car of my own and to participate in that annual event, so I turned my attention to the car I drove to campus every day, a second-hand Ford Taurus. Tom's first response to my idea was horror, "You're going to ruin the car!" he exclaimed.

But once the idea was born, I couldn't let go of it. In war, the voices of men are the loudest and the prayers they lift up for vengeance are directed toward gods that are often imagined to be masculine and paternalistic. My art car, I decided, would reflect the voices of women, of hope and healing, of mending the ills of the world, and I took the image of Mary, the Lady of Guadalupe, as inspiration.  

The Lady art car, 2005

I began collecting items from women's lives that could convey the metaphor of mending: buttons, sewing needles, anything related to mending and sewing or anything related to women's "everyday arts" passed down from one generation to another. I also collected Barbies, to communicate how the "ideal" woman is portrayed in our society in unrealistic images that affect our sense of self from an early age. I glued these items to the car, created lips with Great Stuff molded to the front of the car, painted the car, added fragments of poetry and images from my experiences. To the back of the car, I glued a box in which I placed pen and paper for people to leave comments. Later, I added a chalk-board surface to the trunk lid and placed chalk in the box so that people could leave comments on the car itself.

Tom quickly came to support my crazy idea, the hours I spent modifying the car, and the many trips we took to participate in art car parades, beginning with the 2003 Houston Art Car Parade. Tom and the kids always came along for the ride.

Family and friends turned out for my first art car parade in Houston, 2003 

First art car parade, Houston, TX 2003

Austin Art Car Parade, 2004

From 2002 to 2007, I continued to modify the car, and I drove it in art car parades in Houston (3 times), Baton Rouge (at least twice), and Austin (at least 3 times).

I added this quote and broken pottery image after a conversation with an older student at Columbus State University. 

 

A little verse I wrote

Buttons, buttons, buttons! And remnants of craft projects from friends

Mending the world

Onlookers, Austin, TX 2005

Austin, TX 2006

Baton Rouge Mardi Gras Parade, 2006

Baton Rouge Mardi Gras Parade, 2006 (a friend of the family and my daughter--in the middle back)

Our son rode along with the Lady in the 2006 Baton Rouge Art Car Parade, bravely wearing the hat I made for him as part of his costume.

Me with Harrod Blank before the 2006 Baton Rouge Art Car Parade

The Lady on display in the Howard Gallery in Temple, TX

The Lady in Howard Gallery, Temple, TX

In 2007, we moved back to Georgia after a sojourn in my home state of Texas, and I drove The Lady in the last parades she was to be seen in: a 4th of July parade in Decatur, GA, in 2007, an Oakhurst Festival parade in Decatur, GA, and Atlanta's Inman Park Parade, in 2008, I believe. 

4th of July parade, Decatur, GA 2007

 

Oakhurst, Decatur, GA

View of the Oakhurst Festival crowd as we passed in the Lady

Before the Inman Park Parade, Atlanta, 2008

Driving The Lady in all these parades and interacting with those who came to see the show was such a wonderful experience. People with whom I might otherwise have never had a conversation with would tell me their personal stories. Strangers at gas stations would approach as I was pumping gas in The Lady to ask me questions or to comment. Stopped at a gas station in Alabama on the way to a parade, I was asked by one woman if I told fortunes. I laughed, "No, I don't."

"Well," she replied, "You look like a woman who knows things." 

 

I have a journal full of notes people left in the box I glued to the art car

 

In driving the car to work and in parades and events around the country, I hoped to communicate how important it is to listen to women, to support their work, to promote their art and craft, to champion their rights. And I had some fun while doing it.

 How discouraging it is, then, to see today those voices being silenced, their rights being taken away, their very bodies being threatened by lack of legal medical care. How discouraging it is to have a political leader tell women reporters to be quiet and in doing so, compare them to animals: "Quiet, piggy!" How horrifying to see the derogatory comments pile up as strong women are called "nasty," "loud," "disgusting" (aimed at a female lawyer who requested some time to pump breast milk for her baby), "low IQ", "bimbo," "mentally disabled."

But we won't be silenced. 

https://www.thehoustonartcarparade.com/

https://artcarparade.com/

https://seattleartcars.org/

https://www.criterionchannel.com/oh-my-god-it-s-harrod-blank

https://lesblank.com/directors/harrod-blank/ 

 https://harrodblank.com/

The American Craft Council Show

Yesterday a friend and I drove to Cobb County, just north of Atlanta, to check out The American Craft Council Show. I love to view art and craft creations, and I like to buy handmade items, too, when I have the money. I especially enjoy seeing contemporary work, while the artist is still working, trying to get the attention of the world while expressing some inner vision. Museums are fine, but they represent a small portion of the history of artistic creation, venerating the artists who--by luck, by reputation, by personal connections, and/or by talent--have been selected by some authority to communicate "true" art and craft to the rest of us.

The crafts on display at the Cobb Galleria on Saturday were really fine, in execution as well as in price. Of course, Cobb County is one of the top 100 richest counties in the United States, so the audience for the merchandise were those who could afford a $500 jacket or a $3,575 handcrafted, wooden bed. Not that I abhor spending that kind of money for a well-crafted item; I would just have to save for the rare purchase! Really, the stuff was gorgeous. In the end, I purchased a handmade, leather back-pack purse for my daughter--too expensive for someone like me who now works part-time in education--and a pair of handmade wooden tongs for my husband, who likes well-made kitchen items. Here are the websites of some of the crafters whose business cards I took home:

• Spoonwood, Inc., Jonathan's Wild Cherry Spoons: This booth was crowded with shoppers. The merchandise was plentiful, practical, and reasonably priced. You weren't getting "one of kind" if you purchased an item (for the crafter made several copies of each piece), but you had the satisfaction of getting something handmade and useful, something that would make spending time in the kitchen just a little more fun.
• GreatBags, Maple Leather Company: The source of my daughter's nice, new, leather backpack purse (very soft and supple)
• James R. Wilbat Glass: Cool glass-blown art--the booth at Cobb Galleria mainly contained examples of the artist's sculptures.
• Tiffany Ownbey, Papier Mache Sculpture: funky papier mache sculpture--I have to admit, while I loved the fiber wear and furniture, priced for the person who can indulge more regularly than I in extravagances, my eyes were drawn to the less functional and more funky artwork.
• The Metal Quilt: Metal collage by Kim Eubank and Will Armstrong, in Richmond,Virginia. Hey, I just love collage art, all media, all forms! And I wondered if Will Armstrong could be a distance relative of Tom's; Tom's great-grandfather Baker White Armstrong was from Richmond, and William is a common name in the family.
• Suwanee Clayworks Studio: This studio is located in Suwanee, Georgia, so I think I may visit the gallery sometime. The artists have scheduled a gallery sale in December. I have taken several pottery classes, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I love handmade ceramics. I especially liked the "watering cans" on display in Mark Knott's booth at Cobb Galleria.
• Suzanne and Matthew Crane, Fine Furniture and Stoneware: Look at the installations on this website. Yeah, I want a work like that in my bathroom, too!
• G. Kenner & Co., Fine Furniture: And I want to sleep on one of these beds!
• Ira and Sue Lances, Handmade Chenille: I wanted to purchase one of Sue Lance's handsewn scarfs ($100), and might have, had I returned to the booth before leaving the Galleria. I had a chance to talk with Sue, who explained some of her process in creating the chenille jackets and in creating the scarves. What really impressed me was that she uses the scraps left over from the jackets to create these lovely open-network scarves.
• Mary Darwall, Mais Oui Designs: The intricacy of these beaded jewelry pieces was incredible.

After perusing every booth at the exhibit, we headed back to Decatur and lunch at Carpe Diem. Spending an afternoon with someone besides family and old friends reminded me of how much time I've spent alone these past few years since I left full-time work. My socializing tends to be planned weeks in advance: the occasional dinner party or meeting with new friends for events in downtown Decatur or the long-distance trips to visit old and valued friends in other states. Rarely do I do anything with someone on the spur of the moment. It's really interesting how much socializing is connected with one's work.