Organizers are excited about a special automobile themed art show to open in conjunction with Street Wheeler’s weekend at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, July 13.
“I’m not an artist and I don’t care about cars other than that they run,” confessed organizer Marie Takahashi. 
After being inspired by the Star Wars themed art show in March and her son Haden, she couldn’t resist taking the reins for this show which will feature famous automobiles including the DeLorean from Back To The Future, the hit ’80s movie series, the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard and the Batmobile.
Approximately 20 artists decided to tackle their favourite famous cars for the show.
Takahashi’s son Haden inspired her to take on this show because she wanted to expose him to Lethbridge’s thriving art scene, which reminded her of her home in Portland, Oregon.
She has been in Lethbridge since 2005 and has noticed the art scene has grown a lot since then.
“ I put out a call for artists and they responded,” she said.
“There is going to be some awesome stuff,” she enthused.
“I was pretty surprised by the Star Wars exhibit. This is going to be exciting,” she said. She is not only looking forward to seeing what the artists come up with, but bringing the art community together for the event.
One of the exciting pieces is by relatively new artist Ashley Labossiere, who used sharpie felt markers and pen plus splashes of fake blood to create a massive comic book canvass featuring dialogue and from the first appearance of the Joker in the 1960s Batman television series.
“It’s actually dialogue from the Adam West show, ” Labossiere enthused. She enjoyed being able to combine her love for Batman and gory films into this work.
Her boyfriend bought her the canvass, which she originally intended to use for the Star Wars show but unfortunately she missed the deadline.
“ I’m a big fan of Batman,” she said adding she is looking forward to her piece being part of an actual art show for the first time.
“I’ve been an artist since I was a kid,” she said.
When she first met Todd Lacharite, who originally organized the event before deciding he didn’t have time to do it, he recruited her to paint guitars and skateboards to be raffled off at shows by Finger Eleven on June 28 and previous shows by Die Mannequin and a variety of rappers earlier this year. She was eager to participate.
Her piece is one of several items available in a silent auction. Other works will be for sale for a set price.
“ I’ve never put my stuff in an art show before, so I’m a little nervous,” Labossiere said.
The event begins at 7 p.m., July 13. the works will be on the walls for at least a couple months.
Tanyss Nixi will be performing later on in the night as well. There is no cover for the show which is open to all ages until 10 p.m.
A version of this story appears in the July 11, 2012 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
