Minnesota 2012

Minnesota 2012, a set on Flickr.

...and some monuments along the way!

SCOUT in ARTFORUM!

That's right, lil' ol' SCOUT, the Daily Driver Art Car, is the featured image for the review of the current show 'here' at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. It made the trek out East in November to be a part of the museum show, alongside the Sideshow Extravaganza version of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things.

WHOOP whoop whoopity WHOOP!

http://www.artforum.com/picks/section=us#Philadelphia

Michigan Landmark Destroyed: World's Largest Stove Burns

Fire has ravaged a massive wooden replica of a stove that was built for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and became a Detroit landmark.

Fire crews were called to the "World's Largest Stove" at the Michigan State Fairgrounds on Saturday night after storms moved through the area.

"It's gone through so many evolutions, so many changes in the city and still survived all those years," said Jan Kaulins, a photographer who sells prints of the stove and other Detroit landmarks on his website.

"It's multigenerational. Objects like that help bind history."

A lightning strike may be to blame for the blaze, said Michael Herron, a Detroit Fire Department senior chief. Herron said reports indicate that "natural causes" were to blame for the fire.

The 15-ton replica was built by the Michigan Stove Co. Painted to look like metal, the stove stood on a platform at the exposition over an exhibit of regular stoves. It formerly was located near Belle Isle, an island park in the Detroit River.

The stove was later restored and moved to the fairgrounds.

It's unclear whether the stove would be rebuilt. The Michigan State Fair was shut down in 2009 by state funding cuts.

NYT article on Arts Funding picked up by Rural Yonder

Rural Yonder is one of my favorite sources for items pertaining to rural sustainability, so color me pleased when they picked up the recent NYT article on Arts funding cuts and the impact on rural America.  See the whole recap here:

 

http://www.dailyyonder.com/thursday-roundup-appalachian-depression/2011/08/03/3458

 

 

Today's New York Times online: States Slash Arts Funds, Sometimes to Zero

By ROBIN POGREBIN

Published: August 1, 2011

Erika Nelson, an artist from Lucas, Kan., drives the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things, her mobile art museum.

She has made tiny copies, for example, of the World's Largest Ball of Twine, which is down the road in Cawker City, and the World's Largest Can of Fruit Cocktail, which is in Sunnyvale, Calif.

She calls her mobile museum The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things.

But this year she may not be able to travel far. Kansas, which has one of the country's smallest state arts budgets, has decided to shrink it even further, to zero.

"I think it's a sad day for Kansas," said Ms. Nelson who lost a $2,000 state grant that had helped underwrite her van's trips to colleges and county fairs.

Read the rest online: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/arts/kansas-and-other-states-cut-arts-funds.html

New York Times Arts Beat: As States Struggle, How Much For the Arts?

Erika Nelson, an artist from Lucas, Kan., drives The World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things, her mobile art museum.

 

Should state governments be in the business of funding the arts, particularly in hard times when they are struggling to fill potholes?

Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas has answered this question loud and clear. In May, he vetoed the legislature's $689,000 appropriation for the state arts commission, thus eliminating the state's funding for culture in one fell swoop.

Read the rest of the story on the NYT Arts Beat blog:  http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/as-states-struggle-how-much-for-the-arts/

Hand-Drawn Book Project showing in Winter Park, FL!

As a part of this year's Sketchbook Project from ArtHouse CoOp, our latest hand-drawn book can be checked out and perused at the show opening tomorrow at the Full Sail University, Winter Park FL.

Show runs July 29 - 31, if you want to see it in person, or you can browse through our latest line drawings from the road online: http://www.arthousecoop.com/submissions/43207-if-you-lived-by-youd-be-home-by-now

Orange you glad I didn't say Banana?

-Erika Nelson, Director

WLT Inc.

Hand-Drawn Book Project showing in Chicago IL!

As a part of this year's Sketchbook Project from ArtHouse CoOp, our latest hand-drawn book can be checked out and perused at the show opening tomorrow at the Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago IL.

Show runs July 14 - 17, if you want to see it in person, or you can browse through our latest line drawings from the road online: http://www.arthousecoop.com/submissions/43207-if-you-lived-by-youd-be-home-by-now

Have a Chicago Dog for me! With the works, please...

-Erika Nelson, Director

WLT Inc.

Seguin (Texas) retaking the pecan crown

 

Nut will be the 'world's largest.'

By Claire Cardona

SEGUIN— It took a while, but this city is back on top.

This Fourth of July, the city of about 25,000 people will reclaim its long-held title as the site of the world's largest pecan, showcasing a 2,300-pound nut measuring 16 feet long and 8 feet wide at its downtown parade.

While it's important to note the pecan is fake — made of tubing, chicken wire and fiberglass — residents are more interested in restoring a tradition that had been cracked away from them by a farm in Brunswick, Mo.

"I think Seguin should regain its bragging rights, take back the fame," said John Pape, the manager at Pape Pecan House who helped fabricate the new pecan.

For a long time, Seguin had the biggest pecan in the country. But by the time Pape built an even bigger one in 2002 to replace the original world's largest pecan, which was constructed 40 years earlier in front of the Guadalupe County Courthouse, that claim had been lost.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/article/Seguin-retaking-the-pecan-crown-1450043.php#ixzz1Qz8dWG00

 

 

Hand-Drawn Book showing in San Francisco, CA!

As a part of this year's Sketchbook Project from ArtHouse CoOp, our latest hand-drawn book can be checked out and perused at the show opening tomorrow at the 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco CA.

Show is one day only, Saturday June 18, if you want to see it in person, or you can browse through our latest line drawings from the road online: http://www.arthousecoop.com/submissions/43207-if-you-lived-by-youd-be-home-by-now

Keep on Living Large!

-Erika Nelson, Director

WLT Inc.

Hand-Drawn Book to show in Seattle WA!

As a part of this year's Sketchbook Project from ArtHouse CoOp, our latest hand-drawn book can be checked out and perused at the show opening tomorrow at the Form/Space Atelier in Seattle.

Show is a three-day engagement, June 10 - 12, if you want to see it in person. Or you can browse through our latest line drawings from the road online: http://www.arthousecoop.com/submissions/43207-if-you-lived-by-youd-be-home-by-now

Stick around for the Seattle Art Car Blowout and Freemont Fair the next weekend, too, and BLOW YOUR MIND.

-Erika Nelson, Director

WLT Inc.

Iowa State University Lecture

...just found out that they have an archive of podcasts!  This lecture, A History of Roadside Attractions, was from back in Aught Eight, presented to the Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society of Iowa State University, at their annual awards and recognitions banquet.  It delves into the history of roadside attractions, geared towards a history-minded crowd.  Download and enjoy!

 

Flickr Photo Sets from the Texas Trip

Texas WLTs, a set on Flickr.

Just back from Texas and Oklahoma, with GREAT WLT spotting on the way! Here's the Texas set, but check out the flickr photostream for more from Oklahoma, the Orange Show, and Art Car Weekend 2011