The Houston Art Car Parade is an annual event in Houston, Texas, featuring a display of all types of rolling art. The first art car parade took place on May 14, 1986, when 11 vehicles participated in a parade down Montrose Boulevardin the Neartown area. In later years the parade moved to Allen Parkway, then to Smith Street in Downtown Houston, passing Houston City Hall. [1] [2] Dan Aykroyd served as the Grand Marshal for the 2010 parade. [3]
It began at The Orange Show Foundation's annual gala in 1984 when an old Ford station wagon was donated for auctioning. A local artist decorated the car with plastic fruit and transformed the car into the Fruitmobile. The auction winner donated the car back to the foundation.
The Fruitmobile proved to be popular and The Orange Show Foundation organized a "Road Show" in 1986 to show off other decorated automobiles. In 1988, the Houston International Festival asked the Orange Show Foundation to organize an art car parade. That parade featured 40 art cars, marching bands and about 2,000 spectators. [4]
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety of celebration.
An art car is a vehicle that has had its appearance modified as an act of personal artistic expression. Art cars are often driven and owned by their creators, who are sometimes referred to as "Cartists".
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, also called RodeoHouston or abbreviated HLSR, is the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world. It includes one of the richest regular-season professional rodeo events. It has been held at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, since 2003, with the exception of 2021 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was previously held in the Astrodome. It is considered to be the city's "signature event", much like New Orleans's Mardi Gras, Dallas's Texas State Fair, San Diego's Comic-Con and New York City's New Year's Eve at Times Square.
The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade, is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day.
The Art Car Museum is a private museum of contemporary art located in Houston, Texas, United States. The museum, nicknamed the "Garage Mahal," opened in February, 1998. Its emphasis is on art cars, fine arts, and artists that are rarely seen in other cultural institutions. The museum's mission is to elevate awareness of the political, economic, and personal dimensions of art.
Dia Art Foundation is a nonprofit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumberger oil exploration fortune; art dealer Heiner Friedrich, Philippa's husband; and Helen Winkler, a Houston art historian. Dia provides support to projects "whose nature or scale would preclude other funding sources."
The Quebec Winter Carnival, commonly known in both English and French as Carnaval, is a pre-Lenten festival held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. After being held intermittently since 1894, the Carnaval de Québec has been celebrated annually since 1955. That year, Bonhomme Carnaval, the mascot of the festival, made his first appearance. Up to one million people attended the Carnaval de Québec in 2006, making it, at the time, the largest winter festival in the world. It is, however, the largest winter festival in the Western Hemisphere.
John Angus Chamberlain, was an American sculptor and filmmaker. At the time of his death he resided and worked on Shelter Island, New York.
The Orange Show is a work of outsider art in Houston, Texas. Jeff McKissack, a mail carrier, transformed a small suburban lot near his house into a folk art installation, which he named "The Orange Show" in honor of his favorite fruit. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
Houston is a multicultural city with a thriving international community supported by the third largest concentration of consular offices in the United States, representing 86 nations. In addition to historical Southeast Texas culture, Houston became the fourth-most populous city in the United States. Officially, Houston is nicknamed the "Space City" as it is home to NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control Center is located. "Houston" was the first word spoken on the Moon. Many locals refer to Houston as "Bayou City." Other nicknames include "H-Town", "Clutch City", and "Magnolia City".
Riding Into History is a non-profit vintage motorcycle event founded in 2000 by Billy Aldrich. It was created in order to celebrate the heritage and history of motorcycles. The event also raised money for designated charities, that have changed over the years. It has now become one of America's premier motorcycle events and the attendance has increased every year.
The National Corvette Homecoming is an annual event held in Bowling Green, Kentucky celebrating America's production sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette. First held in 1981, it was created by two Corvette enthusiasts, Tom Hill and Sam Hall, in response to the assembly of Corvettes moving from St. Louis, MO to the Bowling Green Assembly Plant, which is currently the sole assembler of the car. The event is a summertime event that focuses on vintage as well as modern Corvettes. The homecoming offers Corvette owners and specialty vendors opportunities to network. All Corvette production years and custom variations are welcome.
Harrod Blank is an American documentary filmmaker and art car artist living in Berkeley, California. He is the son of Gail, a ceramic artist, and filmmaker Les Blank. His works include the 1992 film Wild Wheels, which documents the artcar phenomenon in America, and the 1998 follow-up Driving The Dream, which focuses on the artists behind the cars. His films have been shown on PBS, TBS, and in cities all over the USA. Harrod has created three art cars of his own: Oh My God!, Pico de Gallo and The Camera Van.
Blaffer Art Museum is a non-collecting contemporary art museum located in the Arts District of the University of Houston campus. Housed in the university’s Fine Arts Building, it is part of the Kathrine G. McGovern College of the Arts. It was founded in 1973 and has won several awards, including the Coming Up Taller Award as part of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The museum presents focus and major monographic and group exhibitions of national and international contemporary artists as well as artwork by University of Houston School of Art students.
A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass distance ride by a company of riders.
Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association, created by the efforts of Charles Frederick Holder and Francis F. Rowland, is the non-profit organization that has annually produced the Rose Parade on New Year's Day since 1890 and the Rose Bowl since 1902. "America's New Year Celebration" is "a festival of flowers, music and equestrians and sports unequaled anywhere in the world", according to the Tournament of Roses. The association has 935 volunteer members and the members spend some 80,000 combined work-hours to stage the events.
The Houston Alternative Art chronology was originally compiled by Caroline Huber and The Art Guys for the exhibition catalogue No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston, which was published by the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) to accompany the group show of the same name. The exhibition was on view at CAMH from May 9-October 4, 2009. No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston was co-curated by Toby Kamps and Meredith Goldsmith and featured projects by twenty-one Houston artists using the city as inspiration, material, and site. This chronology documents Houston's alternative art scene.
The Riverside International Automotive Museum (RIAM) was a non-profit corporation, located in Riverside, California, dedicated to "Preserving the memory of California's rich motorsports heritage". Primary museum exhibits included memorabilia and artifacts from the Riverside International Raceway, the Ontario Motor Speedway, and local racing champion Dan Gurney. In June 2016, the museum closed following the death of Doug Magnon in 2015, one of the founders. The vehicle collection was sold in two different auctions in 2016, based on a decision by the Board of Directors.
Elephant Parade is an open-air exhibition dedicated to saving the Asian elephant from extinction. For one or more months, hundreds of painted elephant sculptures specially created by artists are placed in the streets of one or more host cities to increase public awareness of the plight of the elephant and gain support for Asian elephant conservation. They are then auctioned off, with the proceeds going to the Elephant Family organisation.
Adam Sender is an American hedge fund manager and art collector. He founded Exis Capital Management in 1998. In 2011, his art collection contained 1,000 pieces and was valued at approximately $100 million.