Joe Haden's Big Tulsa Adventure

2012-05-30

Reported By Joe Haden

I had always heard how wonderfully friendly and nice the people of Tulsa were and how they really go out of their way to make us out of towners feel welcome in their town. This is the story of my trip to Tulsa. Let’s find out if Tulsa is as nice as I had heard.


Photo by Steve Michaels Photography

After the Houston Artcar Weekend had finished I went back home to my ranch in Crockett to rest up for a day or two and plan my next move. I unloaded Tired and Feathered, my new Artcar, which won second place Artcar in Houston. I loaded everything into The Old Van and The Sea and set off to the north.

I dropped the dogs off at my moms in Dallas and cooked her a belated mother’s day meal of oyster soup and lobster. Early the next morning I was on my way to Tulsa. I left very early on Thursday so I could get a lay of the land and enjoy Tulsa a bit on my own before the Artcar weekend started.

As I approached Tulsa from the south I was surrounded by trees and rolling hills. Then all of a sudden as I crested a big hill, I see Tulsa unfold before me. At that same moment Robert Palmer’s “Every kind of people” came on the radio which I took as a sign. It was then that I knew that I was going to have a great weekend in Tulsa.

I made it to the Living Arts building were I met a nice lady named Mary who helped me unloaded two Artbikes from The Old Van and the Sea. These custom made bikes, complete with yarn bombing, were on display in Living Arts for the duration of the weekend.

Then I placed a call to Monty Kapchinsky, owner of Lady Luck Fireworks in Claremore. I made arrangements to meet him for some firecracker hat dancing supplies. I made my way to Claremore, just northeast of Tulsa to meet Monty at his warehouse. There was a lovely Pecan grove beside a river running along the roadside. Just past that, BOOM!, firecracker heaven.

I was like a kid in a candy store in Lucky Lady, grinning like a fool as I shopped for sparklers and fountains and other things that go pow. After paying, I showed Monty the Firecracker Hats I had with me. He just smiled and said “how wonderful.” He had no idea what to make of this mad fool wanting firecrackers to explode on his head.

Well, with fireworks in hand, I had a few hours to kill, so, of course, like a fish to water, The Old Van and the Sea drove straight to the Arkansas river. I drove south along the river. There is a great public space that runs along the waters edge, with trails and great wildlife sculptures everywhere.


Photo by Paul McRae

After my little sightseeing adventure I made my way back to Living Arts where I met Nicole McMahan, the organizer of the Artcar weekend. She formally welcomed me to Tulsa. The Welcome to Town party would be starting soon. A short time later I met Stormy of Stormy’s Bike Repair. He was doing an installation performance art gig at Living Arts.

I had a funny déjà vu feeling that Stormy and I had met before, but I couldn't put my finger on where.


Photo by Steve Michaels Photography

Soon, more artcar people started to trickle in for the party. In a wise move Living Arts provided us all with name tags which also included the name of our artcars which made it easy to remember who was who. Before long the snacking and chatting began in earnest. One of the people I met was the wonderful Steve Ligget, Executive Director of Living Arts. He runs the show, in other words. As it turns out, he was also host for Paul McRae and myself for the weekend. I loved checking out all the art work in his house and really enjoyed how close it was to the events for the Artcar weekend.

Friday morning came a little too fast for me, but by definition, Artcar Weekend means we'll sleep later. We all, that is to say, the artcar artists and myself, met up back at Living Arts on Brady st. for breakfast around 8 in the morning. After perusing the selection of donuts and bagels I chose a few donuts and a cold Mountain Dew. We split into two groups and drove our beautiful cars in procession to a bunch of local schools. Between the two groups, 11 schools in total were visited.


Photo by Paul McRae

It was great to see the faces and hear the reactions of the students and some of the less jaded teachers. Like always, this is a big thrill for me as well.

At the last school, both groups met up. Thoughts of a late lunch started or maybe it was my belly making noise. Most of the group went to a local sandwich shop Big Al’s, but Paul McRae and I went instead to a great Thai/Chinese “Super Buffet” that local Lisa Van Schoyck recommended. After I stuffed myself with four plates of the best buffet food I had ever eaten I was feeling it was time for a nap.

After a little down time back at Steve’s place, Paul and I met back up with everybody for a delicious dinner at Living Arts of Tulsa where we watched Stormy and a strange pig man named George prepare us an interesting but tasty salad. We also had delicious shish kabobs. We mingled during dinner enjoying the food and conversation while waiting for dark.

Once we had the cover of darkness we lined up for what will almost certainly become a Tulsa tradition. An illuminated cruise led us outside the city limits of town to the home Roger Johnson where the Houston cartist shared with Tulsa the origins and history of Firecracker Hat Dancing, followed by a demonstration. Before all was said and done more than 10 hats had been danced and seven virgins join the firecracker hat dancing club.


Photo by Paul McRae

I laughed so hard as Living Arts supporter John Eakin danced for the first time. His laugh was infectious and he deserves to be a member of this club with full rights and honors.

As I was loading up hat after hat, I noticed some activity around Paul’s car. His flame throwers were spitting fire and Nicole McMahan was up on the rooftop dance floor. She showed us all her mad pole dancing skills. I’m pretty confidant in saying we made an quite an impression the folks of Tulsa. And that’s putting it mildly.


Photo by Paul McRae

With tomorrow promising to be another long day ahead of us we all split up and went our separate ways to find our beds. That is, everyone except for Paul and I. We grabbed Nicole and Charlie Larson and did what we like to do best, and that’s drive our artcars around town to a few bars and wow them with bright lights and flames. The first stop was the Mercury lounge where we met local graphic artist Thomas Self. He told us about his poster art show at Lot No. 6, an art bar nearby. So we cruised over there to see 1000s of his posters on display. Wow is all we kept saying, WOW.

By the time we had finished our cruising around it was almost 2am so we went to Steve’s to rest and recharge.

Only a few hours later early Saturday morning came and we all met at a coffee house on Cherry St. where Living Arts had arranged for a great breakfast for us. We parked our Artcars in front of the coffee shop which was at the edge of a farmers market. The arriving and departing shoppers enjoyed the cars while we sampled our tasty foods. Paul and I took a stroll down the street to check everything out. First the smell of fresh onions was wonderful then all the Jams, jellies, burritos, herbs, and pies took over. Before I knew it Paul had a fresh homemade cherry and almond pie in hand.


Photo by Lisa VanSchoyck

We didn’t have time to enjoy it though, because we had an Artcar convoy to take part in. Before we left we said a little prayer to St. Jack to lay his healing hand upon Josh Mars Poodle Brothers VW van which had stopped running. Poor Josh never received his blessing from St. Jack and had to ride as passenger the rest of the weekend.

The caravan drove through midtown and the Brookside area of town, then passed through the Utica square and Woodward Park and then over to the Golden Driller for a photo op. We then made our way to the Bank of Oklahoma to sit and enjoy the creek next door and have a few sips of water.

With our 3rd Artcar tour of Tulsa over we all headed back to Living Arts of Tulsa for a grilled hamburger lunch.

After lunch there was a buzz around the place of bikes being finished and everybody else getting their artcars ready for our convoy through downtown Tulsa, the May Fest, And the Blue Dome fest where we later parked for the rest of the day and evening. The convoy was led by a few Artbikes and a few more sprinkled in-between the Artcars. One bike i remember in particular was a Steampunk themed trike, Light of London. Artist David Crass was pumping his crazy legs and just barely could keep up the pace.


Photo by Paul McRae

After we did our snaking through downtown and skirting both festivals we lined up to enter the Blue Dome Festival where we would be on display the rest of the day until 11pm that evening.

As soon as we finally got our artcars parked Paul and I met up with Holly Wall a reporter from This Land a weekly newspaper in Tulsa. for a live Internet interview. It was a fun interview but a bit windy. She told me the This Land booth was directly in front of the famous Blue Dome. By the way, the Blue Dome was the first 24 hour gas station in the country. It’s right in the center of Tulsa on historic Route 66.


Photo by Paul McRae

Holly mentioned in an email that she would be wearing a neon yellow dress. Not able to resist having a little fun with her I then sent a photo of Paul and I to help her recognize us. When she asked which is which I replied that Paul was Paul and that I was Joe, which is about as much help as her telling me she’s wearing a yellow dress.

So as we walked up to see her I made a name tag with TOM upside down which spelt WOT. She got it and so knew our interview would not be boring. You can watch the interview here.

With the interview over I hunted out a cool spot in the shade, which turned out to be a fun little the Corner Bar with open windows overlooking the Artcars. While sitting there enjoying a cool beverage I was asked by Nicole McMahan to judge the Artboxcar contest. A group of local kids decorated cardboard boxes into artcar design which they climbed inside and paraded around the festival grounds showing their works off for everyone. They were so cute.

With my work for the day done, and as the shadows got longer on the ground I made it back to Old Van and the Sea, which was parked right next to the music stage. I kicked back on the back of the van to enjoy the show and drink some more beers. Around that time Ford Gunter Co-Director of ArtCar: The Movie showed up. We talked a bit while watching the show. He told me a little bit about the changes he’s made to his movie and his life the last few months.

Ed: Look forward to an updated review of ArtCar: The Movie in the coming weeks.

Paul McRae came around to tell me about an intimidating young guy who had been messing with him earlier. He was sitting on the back of the van eating a pulled pork sandwich when the guy came up to him with three cronies in tow. He stood way too close to him Paul said and asked what these artcars were all about. Before Paul could answer he said “is this your car?” “No” Paul continued, “it belongs to my friend.” “Where is your friend?” the kid then said to Paul. “He just walked over there” Paul said. “Oh, so he could be anyone then?” was the kid’s response, Paul said.

Paul told me “It was then that it occurred to me that he didn’t believe you were real. He thought you were my imaginary friend.” Paul went on to say “He then asked me Do you like fish?” Old Van and the Sea is a giant angler fish that is eating the van. Paul said “I said yes I do, but again, this is not my van.” At this the kid started laughing maniacally and walked away with his 3 friends, Paul said.

A little later Paul pointed the kid out to me in the crowd. I tried to make eye contact with him, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. I guess I was bigger than his invisible friend.

Next I set off to get Paul’s dance floor busy with some cuties, and that’s when I made my 1st and probably last appearance on the dance floor. As I was shaking his car back and forth he decided to shoot off the flame throwers. And boy did I get a surprise when the wind suddenly shifted and sent the flames over to say hello to me. The funny thing is, I wasn’t burned at all, but everybody was worried about me. In truth, relatively speaking it’s actually not a hot flame. A few singed arm hairs is the least of my troubles. Regardless, shortly after that a policeman came by to shut down Paul’s fun.


Photo by Lisa VanSchoyck

Paul later coaxed a few cuties on the pole with cherry pie enticement.

Well it was about 9pm and our Artcar weekend party had just started at the music stage area. The Electric Rag Band was on stage with Karen Naifeh Harmond playing a mean electric Fiddle. I sat there on my van watching them with Ford Gunter drinking 3.2 beers, with all the bloat but not much of the buzz.

Natali Leduc, who I knew was in town, but had not seen, made an appearance. Oddly she reminded me very much of Stormy or Stormy’s bike repair. The resemblance was there, but I never could put my finger on it. Ha ha ha!

When the party ended I had to get a jump start on my van, due to leaving my party lights on for to long. With that done I found my late night cruise partners Paul and Nicole and we headed into the city for round 2 of late night Artcar driving.

Paul was on a mission which led us the Village Inn, a 24 hour diner, where we confused the hostess by bringing in his own pie (remember the lovely cherry almond pie from earlier?). To make matters worse Paul flashed his laminated artcar artist badge at the hostess and said in an official tone “we’re with the Artcars.” Table or booth was her dumbfounded reply.

As we took our seats, two of Nicole’s friends, who had been at the Firecracker Hat party the night before asked us to join them. So we picked up and moved to the other side of the restaurant further confusing the staff.


Photo by Nicole McMahan

“Skip the pie, just bring us 3 ala modes” Paul gave the order to the waitress. As we sat and ate our pie I could see Nicole’s eyes started dropping. It was time to take her home. I remember thinking how far is it to Steve’s house and my bed for the weekend was calling my name.

The next morning after a good night sleep we met back up at the Living Arts building again for brunch. where a group of volunteers were cranking out omelets for everyone, along with bacon and other tasty things. With a full belly Steve Ligget got up and thanked everybody for coming and then Nicole and Catherine McHottie gave each artist a psychedelic Living Arts air freshener and our reimbursement checks. Yes you heard right they paid us, and paid us well to come to play for the weekend. Keep that in mind when you are making your summer travel plans next year.

With a full belly a smile on my face and a paycheck in my pocket we all did our last Artcar convoy of the weekend over to Circle Cinema to watch ArtCar: The Movie with Ford Gunter and do a Q & A session afterwards. The movie is more focused but probably will go through a few more changes before its next airing in Houston on June 30th.


Photo by Paul McRae

Well, now it was time to leave and drive back south to more familiar lands. One last detail, I needed to go get my Artbikes and gas up. Steve, Nicole, and Charlie were all there at Living Arts to say goodbye. And with that Paul and I made our way back to Texas, but not before I enticed a few more local cuties to dance on Paul’s roof. In fact, we were so entranced watching the cuties dance that we both forgot to remove our wind catching attachments, one of the reasons we stopped. So we stopped again, a few miles down the road at a small town gas station where the locals came out to see what we were doing. I even was asked for my oddagraph. Ha ha ha! We then proceeded to do what we came to do, Paul to remove his pole and me to take down my fish tail before getting back on the road.

A few miles later the road split and Paul went his way and I went mine.

In closing everything I had heard about Tulsa’s Artcar Weekend was true and more. If you haven’t gone, I better see you there next year. That’s all I have to say about that.


Photo by Steve Michaels Photography

Here is a list of the Artcars and their artist that were at Living Arts of Tulsa’s Artcar

Rex Rosenberg, Chewbaru, Kansas
Dave and Irene Major, The Lonesome Duck, Kansas
Tie Dye Kelly, Tie Dye Van, Kansas
Lyn Larson, Tocame Troke,Tulsa
Josh Mars, Poodle Brothers, California
Queen Becky, Opticar Illusion, Houston
Dave and Gina Hampen, Milton the Bull, Dickinson (Houston)
Lisa VanSchoyck (Moustache Ride), Tulsa
Cap Family (Jimmy, Laura, Blake), Bottle Cap Truck, Georgia
Paulette Perlman, De Arte Coupe, Florida
Charlie Larson, Rocket Bike, Tulsa
Don Towner, scooter and sidecar and Ruck the golden retriever, Tulsa
Ford Gunter, Art Car: The Movie
David Crass, Light of London Artbike, Tulsa


Photo by Steve Michaels Photography


Photo by Steve Michaels Photography

See Paul McRae's Photo Set here.

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