2012 Tour

St LouisJason and Nina Sauer and their 7-month old son, Rowdy, of Penn Avenue’s Most Wanted Fine Art (MWFA) took a national art car tour with their interactive conceptual art demolition derby car from Aug. 5 through 25. The family visited cities and art districts in Ohio, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

The car was themed “Most Wanted” and transformed with every stop on the tour. The couple took mug shots of people in each city they visited and pated them directly onto the car. The images were also uploaded to social media, so that supporters could be part of the trip and follow the adventures. The trip served not only to create art but also to advertise and recruit car artists for the upcoming October Art Car Event, Vehicular Abstraction, which happens along the Penn Avenue arts district.

 Where did we go and what did we do?

Columbus, Ohio

 Short North district www.shortnorth.org/:

Gallery 83 www.83gallery.com/

And Sweet Baby Octane (which has a Pittsburgh Connection. One of their owner’s is from Pittsburgh) http://www.sweetbabyoctane.com/

We chatted with them about the possibility of Columbus vs. Pittsburgh art shows. We took photos of The Art Car in front of multiple Public Art Pieces.

St Louis MO:

Cherokee street www.2720cherokee.com & Art Dimensions www.artdimensions.org

This is where Jason Sauer showed his art in 2011. His exhibit was part of ArtDimensions’s 10-year celebration. ArtDimensions is a prominent organization that continues to build a thriving art community in St. Louis. The art exhibit included an intimate gala dinner and showcase followed by a birthday party celebration at the gallery at 2720 Cherokee Street on Friday, Oct 21, 2011. The gala showcased the programs, classes, and artists that ArtDimensions develops and supports in the community, such as culinary cuisine, dancers, fashion, live painting, music and entertainment. Special guest speakers from St. Louis and affiliate branches in Pittsburgh and Baltimore will also share how community support helps revitalize their city with art. As a featured artist, Jason Sauer, spoke on behalf of Pittsburgh.

While on tour in 2012 we spent the day as an attraction in their DIY neighborhood, which is much like Penn Ave but with a strong Hispanic community. We took mugshots of all the people in on the street as well as member artists of ArtDimensions.

We then took the car to multiple public art and landmark locations for photos of the Car.

Longview Tx: we had pre arranged promotional meetings with and took mugshots at Longview Museum of Fine Art www.lmfa.org/ and the local country radio station KYKX www.kykx.com/ We interacted with their staff, chatted about art as development, and took photos of people visiting their space.

Houston TX– we visited and took mugshots at the Home of the Art Car: The

Art Car Museum www.artcarmuseum.com/ . We had pre arranged promotional meetings with and took mugshot of their staff. We had a tour with the Museum Director. Talked about the difference in art car culture in Pittsburgh vs. the south. We interacted with visitors to the museum and took their mugshots as well.

We were also in this 2012 show that happened later in the fall after our tour. The show was titled: The God Exhibit www.artcarmuseum.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=73

New Orleans: SCAD – Jason had an exhibit of his actual art as well as the car on display. It was planned well in advance that we were to be part of their gallery crawl. We took mugshots of people who were part of the gallery crawl. We had visitors specifically visit due to our Pittsburgh connections. The car was also shot as part of a New Orleans 48 Hour Film Project film that weekend. Jason’s art and car were exhibited at Rusty Pelican Studios: http://rustypelicanart.com

SCAD is a DIY Arts neighborhood like Penn Ave. http://www.scadnola.com/index.php?view=details&id=493:vehicular-abstraction-a-public-art-car-experience

Jacksonville FLA – We were an attraction in downtown Jacksonville organized by Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville www.culturalcouncil.org/) at Burro Bar (www.burrobarjax.com/) a cool venue with a “most wanted” poster theme. Took mugshots of staff and patrons.

Cork www.facebook.com/Corkartsdistrict, which is an art collective, pushing public art and a general arts culture in Jacksonville.

We stopped by the Cummer Art Museum, the largest fine art museum in northeast Florida. We were very interested in their Sculptural Gardens and they have a wonderful art collection. We chatted with staff about the art culture in Jacksonville. We had our car out front and interacted with visitors.http://www.cummer.org/

Myrtle Beach SC-

The Franklin G. Burroughs- Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum (www.myrtlebeachartmuseum.org/) We had a pre arranged meeting with their staff and talked about art in Myrtle Beach. We took mugshots and visited. They will be showcasing a ToonSeum exhibit this summer.

Had a photo shoot and mugshots for our sponsor “Body Glove” www.bodyglove.com/ at Eternal Wave Surfshop http://www.eternalwavesurfshop.com

Wilmington NC: visited and took mugshots at ArtFuel http://artfuelinc.com/ which is a tattoo shop and art gallery.

Engelhard NC/Outer Banks NC – mugshots there isn’t a link for where we were. But here is the chamber of commerce website www.hydecounty.org We met with lots of locals and took photos at the area historically owned hardware store.

Raleigh, NC – visited and took mugshots at the mother store for the collectibles store we have in the MWFA Basement, Stuff N Such. https://www.facebook.com/stuffnsuchgandc

Elkton VA – Sauer’s Car Garage visited and took mugshots https://www.facebook.com/SauersGarage

After the trip, the MWFA team took the car to its next phase: destruction. On August 31, the car participated in an American folk art performance of Demolition Derby at the Great Stoneboro Fair in Stoneboro, PA.

The artwork from this year’s car wreckage will be displayed at the Pittsburgh Art Car event, “Vehicular Abstraction”. The art car celebration starts the evening of Friday, Oct. 5, as part of Unblurred and includes an exhibit at MWFA, 5015 Penn Ave. The art displayed will include Jason Sauer’s car-themed sculptures, as well as prints by Scott Frish, professor at West Texas A&M University, and John Lysak, professor at Edinboro University.

On Saturday Oct. 6, “Vehicular Abstraction” changes speed and switches from art about cars to art on cars. Already-decorated cars will be part of juried event, with the winner receiving a trophy and prizes. Celebrity judges will include Nicholas Chambers, the Milton Fine Curator of Art for the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh councilman Bill Peduto (District 8) and George Patterson, two-time winner of the Pittsburgh Gran Prix. There will also be children’s events, vendors, and more.

Sponsored by: Artist and Craftsman Supply Pittsburgh, Imagebox, Carl’s TV Repair, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, The Big Boss Ice Cream Truck Company, Bodyglove International, Tattoo Noir, Calabria’s, Most Wanted Fine Art, Stuff N Such Society, and Deep Fried Trouble.