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The Art Car Museum in Houston, Texas

When you first approach the Art Car Museum in Houston, Texas, you’ll likely notice the scrap metal and chrome exterior designed by car artist David Best.

Inside the unique building, you’ll find elaborate and imaginative cars that have been turned into works of art called art cars. These include customized hippie vans, derby racers, low riders and other mobile contraptions. Some are brightly painted, and others are bejeweled or decorated with one-of-a-kind designs. There are also fine art displays, photography, sculpture and a variety of exhibitions throughout the facility.

At Avenue Body Shop, we truly believe that cars are art and that's why we're happy to be sharing this blog with our readers in San Francisco, CA.

The museum is dedicated to showcasing contemporary artists around the world. Opened in 1998, the private institution was founded as a not-for-profit art organization by Ann Harithas, an artist, and James Harithas, the director of Houston’s Station Museum of Contemporary Art. Ann, a supporter of what is called the “Art Car movement,” curated the Collision show at the Lawndale Art Center in 1984. Here is where the “Mad Cad” art car designed by Larry Fuente was unveiled.

According to the museum’s website, Collision helped to promote the Art Car movement in Houston, which eventually led to an Art Car Parade and an International Art Car movement. Many consider Houston to be the “Art Car Capital” of the country with its large number of art cars on display. For those unfamiliar with the Art Car movement, Noah Edmundson, the director of the museum, says that it emphasizes personal expression and focuses on subject matter from popular culture. “The art car artist is a pioneer of a new image of the automobile, an image which in its diversity reflects fundamental changes in popular consciousness, changes based on the desire for greater independence and individual rights,” he says.

Edmundson explains that all art cars are similar in that they transform a factory-made vehicle into a “personal statement or expression.”

Known by many as “Garage Mahal,” the Art Car Museum showcases three to four different cars at a time and rotates the selection every few months. Those interested in viewing a wider variety of this unique art form can attend the Houston Art Car Parade, held in every year in April. First held in 1988, the parade included 40 vehicles. Today, there are more than 250 from the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The Art Car Museum offers free admission and is open Wednesday through Sunday.

Sources: Wikipedia, Fine Art America and AOL