The kinetic creativity of Art Tougeau is coming back to downtown Lawrence this spring, and event organizers are hoping financial incentives will encourage even more community participation.
After a two-year hiatus, Art Tougeau will bring a collective of cars, bicycles, skateboards, scooters and other wheeled art to a street party in front of the Lawrence Arts Center on Friday, May 27. The celebration will reconvene at the arts center Saturday morning prior to the parade, which starts at noon.
As always, Art Tougeau welcomes parade entries from anyone wanting to participate. This year, organizers are hoping to spark even more interest by offering three $500 grants to offset costs that go into a creation. Applications will be accepted through March 31.
“It has a guerilla arts feel to it,” said Pat Slimmer, who steers the annual Art Tougeau events along with a team of volunteers. “It’s not only about cars; it’s any wheeled art. A big part of our parade has always been the decorated bicycles and the different creations.”
Past events have brought art cars from across the country, but many come to the parade each year to see familiar favorites created by locals with little more than a dream and some wheels that can be attached.
Local artists Kent Smith and Matthew Lord collaborated on their Art Tougeau entry in 2012 after receiving a free Volkswagen Rabbit with the directive to turn it into “some kind of skull/dragon car.” Smith said that although they initially intended to follow those directions, the car itself sent them down a different path.
“Once we had the car in front of us and saw how dang cute this little rabbit was, we decided to go a different route,” he said. “Over the next week we worked nonstop to make the sweetest and most adorable art car we could, featuring a flying narwhal, puffer fish hot air balloon, anthropomorphic baked goods, and all sorts of magic.”
After several years, Smith said, he and Lord determined that the car should be a jackalope, which led to the addition of ears and horns. Over the years the car has seen many improvements, including the addition of frosted donut hubcaps and ever-larger ears and horns.
Lord and Smith plan to begin preparations soon for this year’s event, but they are maintaining realistic expectations rather than making big plans.
“We need to start checking on to see if the Jackalope wants to start up and join in the fun this year,” Smith said. “Fingers crossed we will be there with a car, but no matter what we will be there to see all the fun.”
Ann Dean attended her first Art Tougeau as a photographer in 2007 and has been a fan of the event ever since. Like many, she is a fan of creations by Eric Farnsworth, whose surf bike is propelled by a cyclist hanging prone and pedaling underneath a surfboard that can be ridden above.
Dean said the nationally renowned art cars that frequently come to town for the event are always interesting, but it is the creativity of the Lawrence community that keeps her coming back each year.
“Art Tougeau is open to everyone who wants to participate and to people from around the country, so it creates a unique feel that you might not experience with other events,” she said. “It’s always fun to see different ideas and interpretations year after year, and how the event has grown. It’s a great community event, and everyone loves a parade.”
Though some of the wildest parade entries in the past have been created by artists and professionals with a background in design and fabrication, most Art Tougeau participants are enthusiasts who create their entries from scraps, collections, and vehicles of all kinds that have seen better days.
Smith said that kind of creativity celebrates the power of artwork and collaboration, and disrupts the status quo by breaking rules and challenging “the idea of what our reality could be.”
“Viewers are inspired to see things of little value transformed through creative process and intention and elevated from the mundane and the worthless into something unexpected and priceless,” he said.
Art Tougeau began in 1998 with the intent to foster exactly that kind of creativity and ingenuity. Slimmer said he hopes to encourage everyone in the community not only to watch, but also participate.
Smith said that while creating the jackalope with Lord has been a worthwhile endeavor, he most values the memories of their kids participating in the process.
“They helped paint the car and love riding along waving at friends and blowing bubbles from the windows,” he said. “I love that our kids have grown up with this being something we do.”
More information about the event and grant application is available at arttougeau.org.
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Andrea Albright (she/her), reporter, can be reached at aalbright (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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