Mission Statement
Ever since man noticed the phenomenon of the "corner-less rolling rock" he has been coming up with more ways to use the labor saving invention we now know of as the wheel. In celebration of America's fascination with all things wheeled, Lawrence holds this event to honor mankind's large creative cerebral cortex, bipedal locomotion and opposable thumbs.
Our goal is to create an all-inclusive event that is symbolic of humanity's need for self-expression in the medium of all things wheeled. Ever year we are adding events to the original parade such as the Pre-Parade Party. This year we are adding a Post-Parade Block Party. See 2007 Schedule
The Pre-Parade Party is an event in which families and individuals can bring their car, bicycle or whatever, then paint them while eating popcorn and listening to the music of various local bands. In this event, people can also view other custom show vehicles from all over the United States and meet their builders. The purpose of the entire event is to celebrate creativity and honor the human spirit with a sense of humor, and to just have some good, clean fun on wheels.
Parade History
From Charles Jones, Parade Founder:
Art Tougeau was founded in 1995. At that time, the book and documentary "Wild Wheels," by Harrod Blank was causing quite a stir.
It also happens that in 1995 my wife Carol was on the Lawrence Arts Commission, which decided to bring to town a rolling National Endowment of Arts exhibit called the Artrain, USA. Knowing that I was interested in making an art car and wanting to publicize the Artrain, Carol suggested that I put together an art car parade. That,s how it started. We had a handful of entries that first year... and have grown steadily ever since.
The name "Art Tougeau," - a punning rhyme with art nouveau - was also my wife's idea; as befits her graduate degree in Art History. Another person whose name must be mentioned is Channel 9 news reporter Bev Chapman, who volunteered to judge entries in that first parade and has continued in that role ever since. The first year, we had trophies made by a local trophy shop. The second year, however, an art class at Lawrence High volunteered to make trophies, which was much more fun. Trophies from the high school have become one of the endearing traditions of Art Tougeau. They are odd, beautiful, funny and unfailingly inventive. The judges make up titles, such as the ohmygod trophy, as befits the winning entry. Due to the wonderful sensitivity of our judges - and the influence of Bev Chapman - trophies are awarded on a mysterious basis of merit and need. We also hand out ribbons in great quantities, so every participant goes home with a colorful reminder of the parade.
One of the winners that first year was Cottonwood, Inc., an organization that serves people with profound disabilities. I'll never forget the look on the faces of the Cottonwood folks as they accepted their trophy amid the heartfelt cheers of the assembled crowd. Who knows, maybe they'd never been cheered like that before. At that moment, Art Tougeau became something more than a wheeled art event for me. It became a celebration of community, of embracing difference and eccentricity, of the blessing of social service organizations and people in wheelchairs.
With that theme in mind, we began showing a movie called "Leo Beuerman" at the end of each parade. It is a beautiful little film made by a local company, Centron, in the late 1960's. Leo was a tiny, severely deformed man and a downtown fixture for many years. The film spends many minutes studying Leo and his "vehicles," a tractor and the tiny cart it transported. Leo would park the tractor and lower the cart, from which he would sell pencils to passersby. His movements are tiny and practiced, like a spider weaving a web. Ultimately, the film is a celebration of Leo which somehow catches the spirit of Art Tougeau. Hope the Leo tradition continues.
There are always a lot of kids in the parade, by themselves, in groups and with their parents, on bikes, trikes, riding mowers, and contraptions of unknown origin. From the very beginning, we've allowed kids to enter for free. We like kids and figured they would attract people to the parade route. It turned out to be a good decision. Not only do they fill out our ranks, they also slow the parade down enough for the crowd to get a good look at all the passing fancies. With each passing year, Art Tougeau became better know in the region and across the country. To date, we've attracted entries from Houston, Little Rock, Omaha, Wichita and Boston. The entries range from beautiful to funny, to technologically complex, to just plain odd... and every one of them is a delight. The morning of the parade is always an amazing experience as all these fantastic wheeled pieces roll down into place at the starting ground. It's a sight to behold. There have been far too many wonderful entries and people to list. I do, however, want to mention Eric Farnsworth and the Farnsworth Bicycle Laboratory for their participation in every Art Tougeau parade to date. Eric's large and growing menagerie of pedaled artworks is just astonishing.
Art Tougeau is in such good hands these days. The Lawrence Arts Center provides an ideal venue and atmosphere. Ben Ahlvers, Pat Slimmer, Steve Richardson, Richie Backus and Stacey Vanhouten bring hip enthusiasm to the parade along with their considerable organization skills. The parade is getting bigger and better for their efforts. We're lucky because of them.