Museum Month: American Visionary Art Museum In Baltimore, Maryland


An enormous ball made out of more than 18,000 bras, a replica of the ill-fated Lusitania constructed of nearly 200,000 toothpicks, and a floor mat created out of hundreds of toothbrushes are just a few of the quirky treasures to be found inside Baltimore‘s imaginative American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM). While it’s a lesser-known spot on the city’s tourist circuit, once anyone catches sight of the museum’s exterior – a found-object mosaic made out of tiny pieces of mirror and glass – it’s impossible not to be curious about what is kept inside.

Wander through the halls and galleries of the museum and you’ll be greeted by an eccentric collection of “outsider art,” or work made my self-taught art makers who have little or no contact with the mainstream art world. It’s common for these artists to be discovered after their deaths, and often times their artwork illustrates unconventional ideas, extreme mental states or extravagant fantasy worlds. Some of the pieces in the museum are thought provoking, while much of it is laugh-out-loud funny – but no matter what, the AVAM has the potential to make you change your opinion on what can be considered art.

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Here’s a sampling of some of the fascinating things to be discovered in the museum’s three buildings and sculpture garden:

  • A 55-foot wind-powered sculpture called a “whirligig”
  • A collection of non-electronic machines that visitors operate by pushing buttons
  • Robots made out of streetlights and vacuum cleaner parts
  • Framed, aerial photographs of crop circles
  • A collection of postcards from the Post Secret project
  • Sculptures made out of Styrofoam cups
  • The “Flatulence Post,” a podium decorated with fart art that plays recordings of all the winning farts from an annual competition
  • An expansive Pez collection
  • Several “art cars” covered in mosaics
  • An observation deck fashioned to look like a bird’s nest

If visiting Baltimore in the spring, check and see what dates the museum hosts the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race (this year, it was May 5). For the race, entrants create wacky, roving sculptures that traverse both land and sea on a 15-mile dash. Racers receive awards such as the “Golden Dinosaur” awarded for the most memorable breakdown and the “Grand Mediocre Champion” for the sculpture that finishes dead center in the middle of all entrants. Some of these kinetic sculptures are on display in a section of the museum.

The summer months, on the other hand, bring an outdoor film series to the AVAM. The museum takes advantage of a natural amphitheater formed by the adjacent Federal Hill, screening movies on a 30-foot wide screen that hangs from a golden hand sculpture on the west side of the museum. The screenings happen on Thursdays, so if you’re in town bring a lawn chair or blanket to the hill and enjoy the show.

All year round, be sure to browse the Sideshow Shop, the museum’s version of a gift shop that is packed with oddities and other goodies. Round out the trip at Mr. Rain’s Fun House, a moderately-priced restaurant serving American food and hand-crafted cocktails that match the creativity of the museum, and you will have had a day that truly defies convention in Baltimore.


Photo by Libby Zay.

Artcars given kudos by Smithsonian Magazine

This month artcars have well-deserved attention by Smithsonian Magazine. The magazine sent a crew to the H Street Festival in Washington, D.C. on September 19th to cover artcar artists and their work. The result is this video that provides a wonderful overview of the artcars that are tootling about on American roadways. More importantly, it highlights the motivations of the people who create them. An insight into the mind of an artist is a worthwhile ride.

An interesting point made in the video is that artcar artists don’t only take their cars to festivals or put them in parades. Often they are the main mode of transportation for the owners.

This video contains artist interviews and up close looks at some of their creations. As I was watching the video and considered the way cars have been used to create art–whether they are placed in a tree or arranged in a field, or driven around, I thought about how they do have a way of bringing people together in an unusual way.

One can not pass by an artcar without stopping for a closer look. Chances are, if you’ve stopped and looked, so has someone else. Stick around for a few minutes and you may find yourself in a small crowd sharing an experience you may not have expected when you woke up that morning.

To an artcar artist, that’s part of the point they’re trying to make. Stop and pay attention. There’s wonder happening in the world if you slow down long enough to take a look.

Car art of the US landscape: Weird, wacky and wonderful

It seems fitting that car art has taken its place in the landscape of the United States. When Henry Ford was crafting his Model T, he probably didn’t foresee that his innovation would lead to another type of car creativity. Yesterday for Gadling’s day of Weird America, Jeremy posted about Detroit’s gigantic Uniroyal tire that was once used as a ferris wheel at the World’s Fair, and Sean posted about Mystery Hill, America’s Stonehenge. Car art brings these two together in a weird and wacky kind of way.

Drive along I-40 in Texas heading west from Amarillo (or east if you’re driving from the New Mexico border) and you’ll come across Cadillac Ranch. The first time I saw these 10 Cadillacs sticking up in the air in the middle of a field, their noses buried far enough down so that they’d stay in their upright angle, I was relieved. Actually, I think I felt ecstatic. If you’ve ever driven through this part of Texas, you know just how monotonous the landscape can seem. Flat, flat and more flat. Those cars have been a weird but wonderful visual treat for people traveling that highway ever since Stanley Marsh 3 put them there years ago.

Awhile back, I seem to recall, these cars changed colors with various paint jobs. These days, though, anyone can paint on them. Graffiti is the most common approach. Here is a blog by Alan Mizel who spent time basking in the wackiness of Cadillac Ranch as part of his current trip around the world. There are several photos that pay tribute to this creation.

Next up: Carhenge is more than just Carhenge. There’s the Car Art Reserve

We drove to Carhenge as part of our great American road trip from Ohio to Montana and back four summers ago. When we pulled up, our mouths open like a cliche, we came across a friend of Jim Reinders, the man who conceptualized the project. The friend was collecting the trash and was happy to give us background information about the place.

It was a surprise to see her since Carhenge is a bit outside of Alliance, the closest town. I was impressed to see that this attraction is one that has a method to what some might call madness. Next to this wonderfully weird car creation that was conceived of as a tribute to the artist’s father is a picnic area with tables and a parking lot. This is a regular must-see attraction surrounded by flat land. This outdoor sculpture park seems to say, “What’s your hurry? You might as well stay awhile because, heaven knows, the world is a mysterious place. Take a breather.”

Carhenge, a collection of 38 cars arranged in the manner of Great Britain’s Stonehenge, is only part of the 3-D exhibit set out in the middle of nowhere. The Car Art Reserve is included on the property where the creative spirit runs strong in other car artists’ work as well. One that I remember is “The Fourd Seasons.” Made of Ford cars painted different colors, this sculpture represents wheat growing during the four seasons of Nebraska. Part of the fun of looking at the art is to see what each installation is named.

Artists can still submit sculptures. There’s plenty of room. Carhenge’s Web site contains project history and how to become a part of it.

Here are two other examples of weird car art (of sorts) that I have yet to see.

  • At Wilkin’s Oklahoma Truck Supply south of Tonkawa, there’s an 18-wheeler that is perched on its cab with the truck bed straight up in the air. The truck boasts an advertisement for the business.
  • In Oregon Curiosities, the book’s author describes Yard-0-Fun near Fort Hill, Oregon. Located on Twarp Farm, the yard has a red, white and blue pick-up truck up in a tree. The truck is only one of the weird items on display. Supposedly, you can see the car from the highway between Portland and the coast.

And here’s a car art sculpture that no longer exists but may rise again if someone gets a hankering to reconstruct it.

Near Chicago in Berwyn, Illinois there was a car art shish kabob called “Spindle.” Created by Dustin Shuler, this artwork was made from eight cars skewered onto a pole. If you saw the movie, “Wayne’s World,” you saw this sculpture. Unfortunately, the town voted to get rid of the sculpture a few years ago. The top two cars were saved and stored, however, so someone looking to make Spindle 2 has a head start.

And finally, look for car art moving along U.S. roads and highways. In Columbus, Ohio, for example, several car art artists live here. Greg Phelp’s car with a “That Car” license plate is the one with all the doll parts. Here’s what it looks like in snow.

If you have any car art to share, let Kevin Mc at HubPages know. He’s interested. Thanks to his post on car art, I found out about the car kabob. A commenter of the post clued me into the pick-up truck in the tree.

Add a propeller to your car if gas prices start to rise

Okay. First of all, I really don’t know if a propeller on your car will help with fuel economy–actually, it might make fuel economy worse, but you have to admit it’s a funky idea. My buddy, Greg Phelps, one of the art car gurus in Columbus, sent along this link to Dark Roasted Blend, a website devoted to “weird and wonderful things.” In December there was a post on cars with propellers.

As it turns out, the idea goes way back. In the 1900s, the military designed cars with propellers on them. One of them, the Sizaire-Berwick Wind Wagon was an armored vehicle. It looks like it would do some real damage to a chicken that happened to get in its way.

According to the post, propeller driven cars start out slow, but can get up to 170 mph. One of the drawbacks, besides the fact that the propellers look like an accident waiting to happen, a shredder on wheels, is that cars with propellers are a bit loud. Just what neighbors would like to hear early in the morning, I’m sure.

If you’re looking for a way to finance a trip, I wonder if some company would be interested in a bit of advertising. You could get one of those magnetic car signs, slap it on the side of the car and hit the road. Might be fun.

The Dark Roasted Blend post is filled with photographs and descriptions. I loved the vintage ones the best. With the snow still falling across much of the U.S., here’s a post I wrote last March about Greg’s art car. It fits the occassion. You’ll see what I mean.

Art car in Texas under fire. Is it art or junk?

The issue of old cars becoming art is not a new one. A few years back, driving along Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas, I looked out for the 10 Cadillacs half-buried, nose first in a row off the highway. I saw them as funky and fun. The piece was titled Cadillac Ranch.

If you’ve ever driven through this part of Texas, you may understand how anything that breaks up the flat scenery is welcome. At least, that’s my opinion. Some have felt over the years that those cars are nothing but junk–an eyesore. Evidently, they’ve become more junky since I saw them. (see article)

There is another art car issue in Texas. This one is very recent. Another car, this one painted by Austin-based artists as a protest to pollution, is involved in a tug of war between the artists and those who say that a car that won’t run is junk. Those people want the car moved. The car, now a cactus planter, is art, the artists say and they want it to stay where it is on I-35 outside Planet K in San Marcos.

According to this article in the Austin News, a judge is to decide if the car should stay or go. Perhaps, the artists need to come up with a spiffy name and attractive signage similar to what one might see in a world class museum. It worked for Wilbur, the pig in Charlotte’s Web. He was saved from the chopping block by Charlotte’s web- weaving handiwork. “Super Pig” could be translated to “Super Car.” PR can work wonders. Even a weird funky item is enough to draw tourists into an area.

I have looked to see if I can find out the ruling, but came up with nothing.