The Art Car Parade will kick off the AAM 2011 Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo™ and welcome our museum friends to Houston on Sunday, May 22. The AAM 2011 Local Host Committee, in partnership with the Spacetaker, the Orange Show, the Houston Museum District, the City of Houston and the Houston Arts Alliance, has commissioned a team of artists – Sasha Dela, Rachel Hewlett, David McClain and Kristy Peet – to create the Houston Area Museums Art Car, affectionately named “Through the Gift Shop.” In keeping with the late Peter Marzio’s vision, the car will look like it is in the process of crashing through the walls of a museum gift shop with donor bricks, store furniture and fixtures “flying” off all sides.
Playful and whimsical gift items are needed from museums so that the artists can create sculptural forms that demonstrate the diversity and many dimensions of Houston’s museums. Many museums have already provided a bevy of (three dimensional) goodies for the car. Those that still have not, now is your chance! We are doing one final call for items, so gear up your imaginations and motor on over with Art Car ready gift items:
Where: Houston Center for Photography, 1441 West Alabama St.
When: FROM NOW UNTIL Friday, April 15
HCP is open Wednesday – Sunday from 11 am – 5 pm
and Thursday from 11 am – 9 pm
What: 3-Deminsional items that represent your museum. They
especially need t-shirts! Be creative! For example, The Health
Museum donated a giant brain! The Weather Museum donated
an umbrella! The National Museum of Funeral History provided a
miniature coffin!
Note to all museums – even those who have already submitted materials for the art car:
The artists have notified us of their intent to put membership forms on the back of the car, for folks to pull off and take away. So, we encourage all museums to provide a stack of 100 membership forms/brochures/handouts to the artists. You can drop them off at HCP during the times designated above (and yes, the April 15 deadline applies to this, too!) OR you can mail your forms by April 15 to:
Kristy Peet
Houston Center for Photography
1441 West Alabama St.
Houston, TX 77006
Thanks, y’all!
–Susan Young, Houston Museum District Association