Houston’s Second Gayest Parade

  Queer cars hit the streets in the Houston Art Car Weekend

Queer Cars

Spotlighting gay artists in the Houston Art Car Weekend

by Philip Mayard

With over 250 bedazzled, bejeweled, and otherwise beautifully decorated rolling works of art, and thousands of costumed artists and revelers, the Orange Show’s Art Car Parade easily qualifies as the city’s second gayest street event. The highlight of the Houston International Festival, the Art Car Weekend hits Houston streets April 26—27.

Rebecca "Tankgrrl" Lowe

From Berkeley to Manhattan, wherever self-proclaimed "bisexual serial slut" and wandering art scenester Rebecca "Tankgrrl" Lowe goes, people tend to look twice. Her head is completely shaved and often covered with a thick layer of silver glitter, and her signature fashion statement is a tank top and cut-off jeans embedded with nails. And then there’s her car–a Jeep Cherokee adorned with over 50 individually decorated mannequin heads and a massive cannon mounted on top. Put together with the help of numerous friends, this year’s "Tank" edition features hundreds of trinkets given to Lowe by a friend whose elderly mother recently passed away. Although Lowe keeps an apartment in the Heights, she’s currently on the last leg of a nationwide pilgrimage in her art car. "The gypsy lifestyle suits me best," she says in true art-car spirit.

Mitch Pengra

Whether he’s at work, tooling around town in his art car, or just hanging around with his boyfriend, Mitch Pengra surrounds himself–indeed engulfs himself–in art. Pengra doesn’t just make art–as a lifelong body-painting aficionado, Pengra IS his art, often painting. himself to match his art car, The Green Machine. As art teacher at a local private elementary school, Pengra led his students in the art car-ifying of a donated ’78 Chevy van. Penegra cut sloping holes on the sides and top, and filled the interior with shag carpeting, groovy lighting, and bean bag chairs–sort of reincarnated version of Scooby-Doo’s "Mystery Machine." His students drew whimsical creatures, shapes, and figures on paper, which Pengra transferred directly to the van. "Adults sometimes say, ‘What is this?’" Pengra says. "But the kids just love it and don’t have any hang-ups. I sometimes hold art class in the van!"

Alice Evergreen

Full-time legal secretary and part-time storyteller, Alice Evergreen never intended for her car to become a showpiece. "I started painting my car just because I wanted to. It was like meditation or therapy. Whatever I was thinking about at the time went onto the car, and when I thought of something else, I just painted over it." Now in its sixth iteration, her 1993 Geo Metro, The Jester, features a painted diamond pattern, beads galore, and numerous wig heads with court jester hats. Soon Susan Baird, Evergreen’s partner of over 15 years, got in on the act, and will be driving Evergreen’s car in the Main Street Drag on Friday, April 26. The Main Street Drag–when caravans of art cars head to children’s hospitals and underprivileged areas of the city–is Evergreen’s favorite aspect of the Art Car weekend: "Talking to people, being surrounded by these stunning works of art and wonderful costumes. I just want to keep doing it forever."

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