Well! It has been a few weeks since our epic trip to Trinidad, CO for the 2015 ArtoCade but I needed some time to recharge my batteries!!! Oh, man, I have been completely discombobulated! But here I am finally getting the info out!
For those of you who don’t know, ArtoCade is an art car parade held annually in Trinidad, CO. Yep, Art Car. You make your car into some fabulous artistic statement and creation, then take it to the parade to show it off! What a sight some of the other cars were! Wow! You would not believe it! Dragons, skeletons, grasshoppers! Even a car with thousands of dentures, tooth brushes and empty toothpaste tubes! Being in the parade was a blast and highly recommended to anyone with a creative edge but for those of you that don’t have that edge (seriously, you just think you don’t!) you should just go to Trinidad and experience the energy that is ArtoCade.
ArtoCade is a full weekend event that brings the small town to life. People from all over the world and from around the United States come for this parade. This was the 3rd year since its inception and Rodney Wood (the mastermind behind it all) pulled off yet another great party! ArtoCade is now the third largest art car parade in the U.S. beat out only by the Houston and Seattle parades. 74 cars participated in this years event (if I am remembering correctly) and I am certain it is just going to keep growing!
Now, many of you have heard me talk about ArtoCade and know that I have wanted to create a car based around Waldo Chicken since Rodney pitched the idea to the Pikes Peak regions artists 3 years ago. Well, thanks to the artist group, 421 Make Art, we were able to make it happen. Fellow artists Mike Patti, Bill Young, Melissa Getz, Craig Cantrell, and Joshua Williams (all members of 421) helped to bring Art Carfunkel to life, and I couldn’t have done it without them! And a thank you to John Lanosga for being our courageous driver at the parade!
If you know me, you know that I don’t ever want to go the easy simple route, especially with my art. So, you can imagine how “over the top” I wanted this car to be. I wanted to tell a story, a continuance of Waldo Chicken and his adventures. We had it all planned out, from “set” changes to movable parts and Waldo for President. But, unfortunately, we had some engineering setbacks (all of us but 2 are 2D artists!) and we had to just stick to the basics, but I did insist that everyone create their own Big Head for the parade, and it still turned out awesome. This was a team effort and I wanted everyone to have the chance to participate in the parade. Besides, what is Waldo without the Big Heads? And Art Carfunkel is the biggest head yet! So, as the parade moved along, John trying not to run anyone over, the Big Heads walked along and engaged with the spectators while I ran forwards and backwards photographing every movement our crew made and Waldo nested in Art’s hair.
And we were a hit!!! Everyone loved the Big Heads of course! People were running up for pictures, kids for high fives, and laughing, laughing, laughing! Some kids were a little shy, even scared but even the dogs were interested! The interaction was phenomenal and so much more than just a usual parade.
And the craziest part? We won a trophy!!!!!! Yep. The “Bestest Mostest Group/Team Community Project”. I cried. Literally. I was so shocked and surprised. I’m sure the team thought I’d lost it….along with everyone else that night. It was an amazing effort by a great group of people and we made a ruckus. Hope you all enjoy the photos and can join in the ruckus that will be next years’ art car!
