Houston Art Car Parade Photo Archive
For 38 years, people around the globe have captured photos of the unique, surreal, and majestic rolling masterpieces presented annually in the Orange Show's Houston Art Car Parade. We've spent hundreds of hours compiling these images into an online archive free for anyone to view and enjoy.
Do you have photos of Art Cars rolling in the Houston Art Car Parade that you'd like to submit to our archives? Email us at archives@orangeshow.org!
2024 Houston Art Car Parade Grand Marshal
In celebration of Saint Arnold's 30th Anniversary, and their continued commitment to supporting the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art and the Houston Art Car Parade - as well as their significant contributions to many other Houston arts and culture organizations - we are pleased to be recognizing Brock Wagner as this year's Houston Art Car Parade Grand Marshal!
Brock Wagner
Founder / Brewer of Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Watch the Video
HISTORY OF THE PARADE
Houston's largest free cultural event and one of its most iconic celebrations started out nearly four decades ago with humble beginnings. Through the passion and commitment of like-minded artists across the country and the leadership of the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, the Houston Art Car Parade has become a world-wide phenomenon, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to witness the awe and splendor of mobile art on wheels.
PHOTO GALLERIES
WHAT IS AN ART CAR?
Art Car /ärt kär/
noun
A vehicle whose owner has modified its appearance in a way to suit their own aesthetic, personality, or creative inspiration.
Since the invention of the automobile, art cars have been found in cultures across the globe as a way to express individuality, rebel against cultural norms, and stand out from the mundane. People of all walks of life have created art cars, from the most celebrated of contemporary artists, to your weird neighbor with the chickens, and everyone in between. Most art cars have started out as something you may see in a car dealership parking lot - four normal wheels, a socially-acceptable color, and a major auto company's chrome-plated branding. It's through the eyes, brain, and sweat of an Art Car Artist that the Art Car is born. Whether it's been painted, welded, sculpted, dropped, chopped, beaded, smashed, crashed, lit, or lifted - Art Cars come in all shapes, sizes and forms! The only rule is that it must roll!