The Art Car: a donated 2017 Mustang Convertible wrapped with vibrant student designs, is a product of the collaboration between the Kansas City Automotive Museum, DS Visual Arts, and OATC Auto Mechanic programs. The long hours spent from individuals involved were fully voluntary helping the car being prepared for charity at the Mecum Auction in early December. The Kansas City Automotive Museum, only a short drive from Olathe North, initiated the project and has been growing in the past decade.
“KC was the largest city in the US without a public auto museum. This was especially odd given KC’s history in the auto industry. In February 2011, Jeff Wagoner (lead founder) called a group of his friends together and proposed the idea for an auto museum,” Bob Wise said.
This idea would become a reality for the team of founders, including Bob Wise and his wife, who worked hard to create the museum it is now: a nonprofit motivated to keep the city’s automotive heritage alive through direct community ties encouraging younger generations in the arts. The Wise couple displayed this mission when they purchased the first Art Car made in 2017, recently donating it back to the museum along with the Ford Mustang convertible to be the 2024 Art Car.
“At the time, I was not aware that the museum was looking for a new art car. I asked Jeff if the museum would have any use for my mustang. I then learned that I had just solved a problem for the museum and found their new Art Car,” Wise said.
The generosity of the Wise couple’s donation and long history with the museum is what allowed the Art Car process to start. The museum reached out to educational programs and individuals to create a plan for the roles they would all play. Students of OATC and DS Visual Arts, are artists in different ways, but share the want for advanced learning of a specific field. The OATC mission is to provide hands-on opportunities and prepare students for life outside of high school.
“We’re the middleman between school and a professional career,” Chris Bergen (OATC instructor) said.
The responsibility of OATC students was to prepare the convertible for longevity by checking inner workings, ordering new parts, and cleaning the surface. Students were almost always independently working after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the progress of the car depending on the commitment of the students. Along with learning responsibility and time-management, the Art Car project taught students valuable problem solving skills. There were challenges getting the right parts from companies, a reality of working in the automotive industry.
“If we can tie the skills that they have here with some kind of community service project or something that gets them giving back to their community, it’s a win for everybody,” Bergen said.
The partnership with OATC Automotive allowed students to learn through real-life experiences, while also participating in community service. They donated personal time outside of school to stay curious and passionate about helping others. KC Automotive Museum was able to strengthen their ties with the Olathe youth through reaching out to schools. The schools banned together to make the project come to fruition, but with so many collaborators, difficulties would arise.
“The hardest part was communicating with everyone, because it’s also working with George, Taven (other student artists) and the car wrapper but they’re not here with us,” Allie Workman (12) said.
The Distinguished Scholars Visual Arts academy is meant to provide the necessary tools and experience for students to grow as both artists and individuals. One of the lead teachers, Mr. Albrechtsen asked two recently graduated students and two seniors, Allie Workman and Finley Murrary, to take part in the car’s design process.
“We had a more design-based art that would look better on the car, because some of the people in class are a lot better at portraits and stuff,” Workman said.
Students Finley and Allie used the detailed method of alcohol inks to create the modern and colorful wrap of the car. Though there was much brainstorming about the different mediums to use, they decided that alcohol inks would be the best form of art. It was a very tedious and time-consuming project that they both worked on for two classes of the school day.
“We did three layers. So first, a base layer to get all the colors down, and then a second layer that had some more detail, and then the third layer is what took forever. It was all of the tiny drops on top of it to give the details,” Finley Murray (12) said.
This process created a layered, detailed look that transitions from a deep blue, to a rich red. Additionally, the two other student artists, George Newman and Taven Deladurantaye are recent graduates of Olathe North. Taven designed the animation-style illustrations that are on both the sides and hood of the car, while George made the independent sketches that are placed sporadically on the surface. Both Taven and George’s designs add a personal and funky touch to the car.
“Making it cohesive was difficult with all three styles and to communicate properly what we all wanted it to turn out like,” Murray said.
Though there were challenges, it all came together with the help of Todd Pearson, an Olathe North alumn, with vast experience in this line of work. He was chosen to work with Mr. Albrechtsen and student artists to format, and then fully wrap designs on the car.
“I started in 2009 and it just evolved from there, kind of following the industry. Things change, material gets better all the time, and now I’ve probably wrapped three or four hundred cars in total over the years,” Pearson said.
With the volunteer of his time, he can now add the 2024 Art Car to his long list of projects. Pearson was introduced to the museum a few years ago through a mutual connection and was recently invited to help with a crucial part of the Art Car. His work is very skill-based and challenging, yet Todd continued to professionally finish the process. With his experience, he was able to teach student artists, Allie and Finley, how to apply their own art onto the car.
“So that was the fun part of it, is communicating with the students and making sure everybody got a little input, and even, you know, being able to participate in putting the stuff on the car,” Pearson said.
The true takeaway from the Art Car story is that collective and dynamic collaboration amongst educational programs is beneficial for the community in more ways than one can see on the surface. The hands-on experience given to the youth of DS Visual Arts and OATC Automotive is irreplaceable. Thanks to the generous donation of the Mustang convertible by the Wise couple, students learned that with training and technique, they are able to give back to their community in a unique way. Pearson is an example of a professional volunteering his time to collaborate with the community, and pursue his passion in the industry at the same time. In early December, the Art Car will be auctioned and all the proceeds will be donated to charity. This inspiring project would not be possible without those who played a part, big or small.
“I have been floored by the amount of support that this community has. The more we connect with the community, the better we can work the program” Bergen said.
