Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Mural Dedication, Sept 19, 2010
Community Mural Dedicated, Newton Kansan, September 20 2010
NEWTON —
By Christine Wyrick
Newton Kansan
Newton’s new community mural, “The Imagineers,” was dedicated Sunday afternoon in a ceremony that featured dancing, music, speeches — and a lot of sunshine on a 93-degree day.
About 100 people attended the event, which unveiled the mural, a project sponsored by the Mid-America Arts Alliance based in Kansas City, Mo., and the National Endowment for the Arts, on the north side of Combs Organ Co. on Main Street.
Twelve cities competed to host the project, which was fully funded by those two organizations.
Barb Burns, the city’s community advancement coordinator, who along with Rachel Epp Buller from Bethel College served as co-chairwomen for the 2010 Kansas Mural Project, said Newton is the only community in Kansas to host such a painting.
Among those in attendance was a contingency from Joplin, Mo., which is considering applying for the community mural grant in the future.
Community members were involved in the project from the beginning, giving their ideas for what should be included in the mural and actually helping paint the mural.
“... I hope this strengthens the way we come together to work on projects and come to a common good,” Burns said.
Dave Loewenstein, a nationally recognized mural artist, was brought in to guide the project. He had two other professional Kansas artists assist him — Erika Nelson of Lucas and Matthew Farley, a Wichita native.
“This art is for everyone,” Loewenstein said. “It is not to be bought or sold.”
Loewenstein encouraged the community to work on other projects together.
“We hand the baton over to you,” he said. “Go out and make more murals, more sculpture, more parks, increase the size of your farmer’s market,” he said. “Whatever it is, you’ve proven you can do this.”
Nelson said the artists hope community members will come and study the mural to see what images they take from the mural. Some of the images are clear — others are not, she said.
Among the clearly seen images are people of differing ages, a quilt, technology, the clouds on the water tower, a drink, railroad references, birds, trees and a cultivated field.
“Some you’ll have to investigate your own community to (figure) out,” she said.
“Approaching the mural, one sees a group of people around a table engaged in the process of building, playing, restoring and imagining,” the program at the dedication stated. “These figures are symbolic of the Newton/North Newton community. They re not particular people, but a composite of the many and varied citizens in our area ...”
Nelson it was interesting to see people watch the mural come together the last two months.
She said a couple of people stopped by twice a day — once in the morning and once in the evening — to see the latest updates. Another couple came each night to point out areas with a laser pointer.
“Investigate what the mural might mean,” Nelson said. “There are hidden gems in there. You have community stories reflected back at you in unexpected ways.”
One of the highlights of the dedication was a performance by a group of dancers organized and choreographed by Sara Dick especially for the mural project.
The dance, with live music to accompany it, included the dancers — a group that included children through seniors — interpreting their favorite places in Newton and North Newton, such as parks and schools.
They also jokingly teased their least-favorite place in Newton was sitting in a car waiting for a train to pass. Ironically — or perhaps fittingly — a train passed by with whistles blowing just after that.
The dance group included Danika Bielek, choreographer; Helen Bertrand; Emily Blaine; Emma Kliewer; Paige Kliewer; Luella Lohrentz; Olivia Lyles; Marlene Smucker; and Stan Smucker.
The musicians were Jesse Graber, Eric Schrag and Matthew Dudte.
Perry White, president of Bethel College, said public art being used as a way to tell stories has been around for thousands of years.
He said the group is considering options for lighting the mural at night and landscaping around the mural.
“We hope this spurs other community projects,” he said.
Epp Buller thanked the design team for their efforts. The design efforts started about two months ago, with much of the design work done at the Carriage Factory Gallery with the help of director Joe Loganbill.
A red ribbon was cut by Ellie Bradley, a student at Santa Fe Fifth/Sixth Center, who was a member of the design team with her mother.
Other members of the design team were Ray Olias, Jesse Graber, Diane Epp, Los Fernandez, Amy Yountz, Bob Regier, Erin McDaniel, James Janzen, LaDonna Voth, Susan Jantzen, Phil Epp, Pat Washburn, Beth Burns, Ellie Burns, Joe Regier, Pat Hines, Mike Combs, Jim Wimmer, Mikala Gingerich-Gaylord and Loganbill.
Joe Regier Construction donated hydraulic lifts and other equipment for the artists to use during painting. Michael Combs donated the space on his building for the project.
Mural project partners were Vada Snider, Greg Elder Construction, Reba’s, Conrad Snider, Chuck and Cindy Regier, Bethel College and the city of Newton.
“This has been the highlight of the last year,” Loganbill said. “We wanted to do something good for the community. It’s a really good piece of art.”
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
How do you make the World's Largest Omlette in the World's Largest Frying Pan?
Friday, July 23, 2010
10' French Fries from Turco, Buffalo NY
Monday, July 19, 2010
Carhenge in Pictures
First Ebay Listing of WLCoWSVoWLT card!
And, here's another auction for a WLCoWSVoWLT card: http://cgi.ebay.com/WORLDS-BIGGEST-Worlds-Largest-2010-Allen-Ginter-WB20-/250668318910?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Baseball&hash=item3a5cff00be
First spotting of WLCoWSVoWLT Allen & Ginter card!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Join Us at the Catsup Festival!
Friday, July 9, 2010
World's Largest Skateboard Folly
AND, got a shoutout on the related post from Bean at KROQ-LA - did a radio interview w/ Kevin and Bean in the Morning back in Aught 5 or so...
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Escabana Michigan - W.L. Yoyo Designers
By Ashley Hoholik, POSTED: June 30, 2010, Daily Press
ESCANABA - Popularized in the 1930s, the yo-yo is making a comeback - but not as the familiar child's toy. A 1,625 pound version of the simple, amusing toy will debut in July, courtesy of the Bay College Computer Aided Design (CAD) class.
The 11 foot, six-inch diameter yo-yo is part of the class' latest run to commandeer yet another world record title. Previous CAD class world record attempts include the world's largest golf tee and the world's largest skateboard.
The official drop will occur at 7 p.m., July 6 in the Bay College parking lot off of Danforth Road. Judges for the drop include: Bay College President Laura Coleman, State Representative Judy Nerat and Vice President of Delta Manufacturing Jean Ross - among others.
The current record for the world's largest functioning yo-yo was set by a group of college students from Manchester, England. It was 10 feet tall, five inches in diameter, weighed 896 pounds, and was dropped from a height of 189 feet.
Looking to defeat this record is the seven member Bay CAD team, which includes: Ryan Fairbanks (team leader), Jacob Nietling, Mark Cocco, Matt Yadro, Jessica Potvin, Viki Branstrom and Adam Hoffman. Though the team has already constructed a larger yo-yo, they must now ensure its functionality - dropping it from a crane and propelling the device back up at least once, with witnesses present. Usage of the crane has been donated by Ness Contracting, so now all the students have to anticipate is whether the structural integrity of the yo-yo can withstand the drop.
"On the test drops, I'm pretty sure it won't break. The test drops are only 20 or 30 feet, so its not able to generate that much force, because at those heights it is only around 7,000 pounds of force," explained Fairbanks. "The 90-foot drop is around 18,000 pounds of force, though, so it is quite a bit of difference."
While Fairbanks expresses confidence in the metal components, axle of the yo-yo, and rope, which is rated at 81,000 pounds, he and the group have some apprehension about whether the wood will make it through the process. For this reason, CAD Instructor Jerry Havill has worked with the class and college to outline possible risks and how to prevent them.
"The higher we go, the more danger there is, and if it breaks, then we have to consider people, property and everything else - at 90 feet the risk is higher," said Havill. "The process itself has been thoroughly presented to the college itself, as well as the risk manager for the college system, and so we've looked at things very carefully...we've taken all the steps, but when you drop it, you can't guarantee that it won't break."
Other considerations that have been made are wind and crane movement - both of which will be monitored by the crane operator. If conditions prove too unfavorable, the drop will be called off. A perimeter will be set up around the drop site to ensure the safety of audience members.
Over the past several months, the CAD class has used manpower, welding and glue to construct the steel and wood yo-yo. The current version of the yo-yo was adapted from a smaller yo-yo designed by the class. The larger yo-yo is an replica of the smaller version and exactly 40 times larger. The total cost for the construction of the yo-yo has been just over $12,000, which has been primarily raised by the CAD students through various fundraisers and work.
"We received a $5,000 sponsorship and 300 yo-yos to sell from Yo-Yo Factory.com - they will actually be coming up for the drop," said Fairbanks. "We've been working on it for the past four or five months, probably a minimum of four hours a day, so it's quite a bit of time we've put into it."
The requirements put forth by the Guinness World Record officials include creating: a yo-yo that consists of two equally sized, but not especially equally weighted pieces of plastic, wood or metal; a yo-yo that is demonstrated to work in front of judges; and published specifications of the yo-yo, including the weight, the length of the rope, and the diameter.
According to Havill, the entire project has been a valuable experience for the students, who have had unprecedented local support.
"This project has had more local companies involved than any of the other projects," he explained. "We've had three companies with major involvement, and then a lot of other companies that have been involved and helping by either just charging us cost or volunteering their time or equipment."
The most important aspect of the yo-yo construction process, notes Havill, was the student dedication.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Big News from World's Largest Things, Lucas Kansas
CONTACT: Erika Nelson, World's Largest Things Inc., info@worldslaregestthings.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 30, 2010
Queen of Kansas Quirky gets own Topps Collector Card
Lucas artist Erika Nelson's "World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things" featured in the Topps 2010 Allen and Ginter Collector Card set, due to be released June 30, 2010.
Due to be released on June 30, and in card stores Thursday July 1st, the new 2010 Allen and Ginter set of retro-themed baseball cards will include a regional favorite - the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things. Lucas KS based artist Erika Nelson was contacted in February by the head of image licensing about including the WLCoWSVoWLT in the 2010 series after the head of marketing found the World's Largest Things website. The initial call came as the Topps executives were still chuckling over the theme song, and a deal was swiftly struck, pairing Kansas' supurlative-sporting attraction and an industry leader in sports trading cards.
Allen and Ginter, a Richmond, Virginia, tobacco manufacturing firm, created the first cigarette cards for collecting and trading in 1875. In 2006, Topps resurrected the name, producing a specialty line of cards in a vintage style. In addition to modern and historical baseball figures, the sets included special quirky insert subjects - relic cards with real objects from famous people (a piece of JFK's sweater), or a special Sailors of the Seven Seas series. A set of signature cards encourage folks to collect autographs from a wide range of people including Erika and her collection, illusionist David Blaine, skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, and fire eater Hubertus Wawra.
Allen and Ginter sets also include special wooden or silk cards in some of their packages, cards that fold out like books, and special 'rip' cards that hide a small card inside a larger card, only revealed if you physically rip open the larger card. Since it is one of the specialty collector sets, you'll have to seek out a hobby shop that still deals in sports cards. There are only a half-dozen official Topps retailers in Kansas, and the owner of The Arena in Salina feels that this years A&G set will sell out quickly, due to a last-minute inclusion of Stephen Strasburg in all Topps releases, starting with the Allen & Ginter series.
Kansas "Topps of the Class" stores include: The Sports Dome, 1000 Massachusettes, Lawrence; Lobos Sports Cards, 1016 S Oliver, Wichita; Rock's Dugout, 3232 N. Rock Rd., Wichita; The Arena, 127 N. Santa Fe, Salina; Star Sportscards, 806 A East 4TH, Hutchinson; and Baseball Card Shop, 2332 Main, Great Bend.
Since the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things is one of the autograph cards, when you send one in to the World's Largest Things Home Base (PO Box 101, Lucas KS, 67648) for a signature, you'll receive an additional postcard of the New Sideshow Extravaganza banner featuring the collection. It's a meta-collectors dream, and a great honor for one of Kansas' Quirkiest to be a part of this historic set.
####
Media Contact:
Erika Nelson, World's Largest Things, Inc.
PO Box 101, Lucas KS
785-760-0826
info@worldslargestthings.com
Friday, June 25, 2010
Hyundai builds World's Largest Vuvuzela
Meet the world's largest, biggest, longest, loudest Vuvuzela. Created by the South Korean manufacturer, who, by the way, is the official car supplier of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the 114-foot-long... tube sits on top of an unfinished bridge in Cape Town.
From there, as a game, any game, is about to start, the Vuvuzela releases its millions of bees on the poor Cape Town residents' heads. Yes, you read it right, the damn thing works. You can find the proof in the video below.
The Vuvuzela has been placed there by Hyundai's advertising agency The Jupiter Drawing Room, to be the epitome of Hyundai's "Bring the Gees" campaign.
If, by accident, you have been living in a secluded cave somewhere on the Moon, the chances are you don't know what a Vuvuzela is. Described by South Africans as football's beautiful noise, the Vuvuzela is a brightly colored, meter long trumpet. A trumpet which, South African says, sounds like an elephant.
Really?
Listen to the one below (which, by the way, sounds more like a ship coming into port). Does it sound like an elephant? Open your TV and listen to tens of thousands of Vuvuzela being constantly blown throughout any given game. Do they sound like elephants?
Friday, June 18, 2010
Another roadside attraction smote (smited? smitten?) by God.
This has also let to a Religious Icon Deathpool (by lightning) - nominations for said pool are the Groom, Effingham, and Ohio giant crosses, and the Praying Hands in Tulsa OK.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Front page, today's Salina Journal - the new Smoky Hill River Festival collaboration
Bill Godfrey assembles his fabric panels on the Fourth Street bridge on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 in Oakdale Park in preparation for the Smoky Hill River Festival. (photo by Jeff Cooper/Salina Journal)
Joe Clark (left) and Erika Nelson work on an art installation at the tennis courts in Oakdale Park on Wednesday, June 9, 2010 in preparation for the Smoky Hill River Festival. (photo by Jeff Cooper/ Salina Journal)
Artist Blind Date - original story
When two people are set up by a mutual acquaintance for a blind date, the results are difficult to predict, but at this year's Smoky Hill River Festival it will be hard to miss the bright results at the Oakdale Park tennis courts.
"I See You, You See Me," a mural of Put-in-Cups and cloth, shows the results of the artist blind date of Erika Nelson, of Lucas, and Bill Godfrey, from near Pittsburgh, Pa.
The two found themselves paired together to design a mural ahead of the four-day Smoky Hill River Festival, set to kick off tonight with the Festival Jam in Oakdale Park.
"We connected well," Godfrey said. "Our works meshed together really well."
Godfrey and Nelson met for the first time Tuesday to start their project after being "set up" by Karla Prickett, a festival organizer, and talking online about the project for two months.
"It was like creating an Internet relationship with someone you don't know," Godfrey said. "You find out a lot about the person, but you never physically meet them until the end. You don't know if you are going to be able to work together or not."
Inspired by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the artists set out to design a project meshing two very different art materials.
Hundertwasser?
"She (Erika) wanted to base our piece on his (Hundertwasser's) work," Godfrey said. "I went on the Internet and researched this artist's work and found he was one of the most important artists in Germany in the 20th century."
Nelson said Hundertwasser's designs are childlike and have many curves, something she felt would be a hit at the festival.
"We are focusing on the eyes and bright colors of his designs," Nelson said. "The top tier will be major vignettes tied together with little designs."
Godfrey said his part of the project was finished ahead of time, but Nelson started putting the Put-in-Cups into the fence Tuesday. The project is expected to be finished today. Nelson said she planned only a portion of her project in advance.
It really blends well
"I'm responding to Bill's pieces and going little by little until it feels right," Nelson said.
With the banners made of cloth and the Put-in-Cups, Godfrey said he was surprised how well the materials blended together.
"If you put the fabric and the plastic on the chain-link fence and step back, you can't tell where one ends and the other begins," Godfrey said. "By accident, the cups and cloth are the same color sources."
Nelson said the mural almost looks as if it were designed by one artist instead of two.
Godfrey has been helping Nelson put the cups into the fence following her designs.
"It is like a creative arena," Godfrey said. "You bring a lot of things and media together, and it happens."
Nelson said the mural will be taken down Sunday.
"She envisioned us working together in a nice fashion, and we have," Godfrey said. "This art blind date has worked."
Reporter Chris Hunter can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at chunter@salina.com.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
River Festival starts Thursday in Salina Kansas
Potential World's Largest Pool Table, Fredericktown MO
Friday, June 4, 2010
Telluride Tidbit: Sideshow Extravaganza during Gallery Walk
Telluride Tidbit: Public Transportation
Telluride Tidbits: Filmmakers Dinner
NEW Sideshow Extravaganza premeired at Telluride this past weekend
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Largest Art Car Parade Yet!
Here are links to the actual parade, from the Orange Show, cut up into five segments:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
And, Paul McRae's Flickr Photo set from Art Car weekend 2010 - you can also do a photo search, and find thousands more from hundreds of other people shutterbuggin': Paul's Art Car Pics




















