Grand Avenue has always had a car-based history, so adding art cars to the Festival is a perfect fit. Organized by Art Car World and curated by Harrod Blank, “Arizona Art Car Exhibit” will be at Unexpected Gallery, 734 W. Polk St. There you’ll see eight elaborately decorated art cars, including Oh My God and the Camera Van by Harrod Blank of Douglas, AZ; The Ploppet by Claire and Kyle Johnson of Scottsdale; The Madonna Car by Jose Benavides of Chandler; the Owl Car by Kate Pearson of Bisbee; J Gurl by Diane Bombshelter of Tucson; the MondrianMobile by Emily Duffy, Douglas; and The Nevada Car by David Best and Patrick Dailey of Bisbee. In addition, there will be:

An exhibit of 20 Art Car photographs.

Art Car film Automorphosis by Harrod Blank showing at 2pm and 4:30pm During those screenings, Blank, Director of Art Car World in Douglas, also gives an overview of his process and signs his book Art Cars.

Art Car artist work on display, including sculpture, hand-painted ceramic plates, paintings on black velvet, and mixed media works.

Meet the Art Car artists from Noon to 3pm.

Curious how this all started? Well, in 1977 Harrod Blank was a Santa Cruz High School freshman and he really wanted a Mustang, but all he could afford was a $600 white 1965 VW bug. Frustrated, he painted a rooster on the passenger door (he was raising exotic poultry at the time). Astounded by his sudden popularity as the “Chicken Man,” he kept decorating his car. Over the years, the car became more personal and represented a totem of his identity. He learned about photography and film making from his documentarian father Les Blank, and as he learned of other people who created “Art Cars,” he began photographing and filming them. Today, he is building a museum for Art Cars—Art Car World—on the border of Mexico in Douglas, AZ.