Gadling

Willy wrote a post about a art car parade in California this past April. I mentioned art cars in my ComFest post in June. Here’s another art car opportunity. Marilyn Terrell, a faithful Gadling reader and a person who knows quality events when she sees them, sent this our way. The 14th Annual Car Art Show and Other Wheeled is happening in Baltimore, Maryland this weekend, July 20- 22. It’s part of Artscape, the very mega and very free public arts festival held here each year.

If you’ve ever looked at dings in your car and thought, “Gee, I wish this looked better,” go to the Car Art Show for some ideas. Being an artist helps, but having the right kind of glue may be enough. An artist friend of mine acquires cars for art festivals so that attendees can turn them into mobile art pieces by a festival’s end. When my son was three I helped him glue action figures onto the hood of one of these cars. The result was kind of similar, but not exactly to what is shown in this photo posted by Ben Kallman on Flickr.

Art cars can be more complicated than that. Ben Kallman’s photo might be a closeup of the first car. There are other artists who use paint to create their masterpieces. Others weld on additions. Who says a car has to stay a car shape? The insides like this one posted by praxis88, are included in the creations. Some cars make you wonder how anyone manages to drive them. A friend of mine once had dinosaurs glued in a neat fashion to his dashboard. The first car I bought had some sort of purple fur, but I don’t think this qualifies as art. It was just weird.

The art car show’s highlight is the car caravan on Saturday at 1 pm. Cars start off at the American Visionary Museum and make their way through the festival route. Although most cars come from Maryland and Virginia, I noticed two on the list are from Florida. I wonder if the owners drive them up. That’d be a sight to see on a highway.

Here are some others from the Flickr pages that caught my eye. All, are from previous Art Car Shows at Artscape. You may see some at this weekend’s event since I think they get shown off each year.

This one, reminiscent of a Klimt painting, was also posted by praxis88. We recently sold a red Toyota Corolla with 200,000 miles on it that I had the urge to turn into an art car but was concerned we’d do all the work and it wouldn’t drive much longer.

If I had turned it into car art, I’d have liked to have done something like this one posted by praxis88 that combines paint, jewels and mirrors.

This car posted by Celeste Dawn makes me think there is no reason to ever donate to Goodwill again–or throw out anything. I recently pitched one of those kid’s tops with a handle that you pump and think perhaps I should have kept it. My car art friend could have probably used it.

Others, like this one posted by James in balto , have messages. Sort of a political speech on wheels or something. It’d be kind of neat to get a whole bunch of poetry magnets to see what people might write on a car. It could be an interactive piece that would change at each parking lot. Of course, the magnets might get stollen. That would be a bummer.

Wouldn’t it be neat to do a car that has objects from various places you’ve visited? Or do something like the creators of this one posted by Markwithnohair. Pick the place you liked the best and then pay it tribute. I’d have a hard time choosing. In case you’re inspired to do something with your no longer a beauty, here’s a link Marilyn also sent along that takes you through the steps of making an art car of your own.