"To Entertain, Inspire and Prosper through ever-developing Excellence, Creativity and Goodwill."
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The Car
Many of you have seen the project called "Community Driven". For
those of you who haven't, or those of you who saw and wondered
what it was all about, here's the scoop.
As a long-time busker, I have seen an amazing dynamic occur
when I perform; people of all walks of life gathering together in a
spirit of fun and friendship to watch and interact.
I wanted to find out if I could achieve the same sort of positive
response with a car, so I set to work with a plan; I contacted my
getting-better-and-better friend, Steve Ligget of Living Arts in Tulsa
to help me insert my project into the Tulsa ArtCar Weekend. All I
wanted was a space among the Art Cars and a little financial
backing.
In describing "Community Driven" I explained that my goal was
to bring people together in a spirit of creativity and friendship using
nothing more than gentle persuasion, a 1977 Ford LTD and paint.
Steve made all the arrangements and lo, there I was in Tulsa in the
Art Car Weekend with all three tools at my disposal.
Wearing clown make-up from my previous Oklahoma City
engagement, I convinced (It wasn't hard) a family to paint their
designs on my car. I explained that as all worthwhile endeavors,
this one had rules;
Please sign in.
Please respect the work of others.
Please respect the tape and plastic which protects lights and
windows.
Please make all designs respectful, child-friendly and positive.
Please let me do all of the paint pouring.
Once passers by saw what was happening, more and more
painters appeared from nowhere. Of special note were Max and
Ludovic who went above and beyond with playing cards, pencils,
rubber ducks, wire, plastic cowboys and indians, scuba flippers,
liquid nails and a power drill. I frantically rotated from
spokesperson to supplier to cleaning crew to new car artists' biggest
fan.
After six hours, one hundred people had adorned my iron
behemoth and I was ready to take a break. I packed up my supplies
and made my way to the ArtCar owners party. (doubletake) I AM an
ART CAR OWNER NOW! and in such good company too! Good,
friendly and creative people welcomed me into their midst.
to be continued...
(photos and videos on the way)
