The Arts + Creativity Center (A+CC) recently hosted the “2016 Custom Car-nival,” a sunset carshow that brought together and celebrated Santa Fe’s vibrant and world-class custom car culture. A+CC partner MAKE Santa Fe (housed in the Meow Wolf complex) co-hosted the event along with Enchanted Expressions Car Club and shared examples and demonstrations of its advanced manufacturing equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters and etching machines. The aim was to build awareness in the local car scene of the types of technology and collaborative workspaces and hi-tech equipment that MAKE Santa Fe currently has to offer and will eventually become an integral part of the Arts+Creativity Center.
Dozens of customized vehicles including lifted 4×4 trucks, donks, rat rods, sports cars, classics, motorcycles and lowriders were put on display to pleasure of an ethnically diverse, and multi-generational crowd. Several automotive shops from the Siler neighborhood came through and brought vehicles to show alongside representatives from several local car clubs including Enchanted Expressions and Rollerz Only. “It was great to see everyone come together and enjoy checking out the cars and appreciating everybody’s skills and hard work. The vehicles on display here don’t get built overnight. Often each car or truck represents the culmination of lifetimes of dedication and practice. These craftspeople deserve to be recognized for being true artists,” said Justice Lovato, President of Enchanted Expressions Car Club.
The A+CC Design team was on site with the 3D site model where the public shared their ideas directly with project architects. Creative Santa Fe did a great job registering car show participants, informing attendees about the A+CC project and collecting informational surveys. “This project is about bringing people together. It doesn’t matter if you like hot rods, and she likes off-road trucks and I like lowriders. The point is we all like getting our hands dirty and transforming stock vehicles into custom, one-of kind rides. I’m looking forward to see what kind of ideas the custom car crowd come up with to use this new technology like the 3D printers and laser cutters. The sky’s the limit, we just need to get these tools in the hands of the right people,” said Daniel Werwath, COO of New Mexico Inter-Faith Housing who leads the project development team.
Data gathered from surveys at the event will help inform the design and equipment of the shared resources space within the A+CC project, with the goal of making aspects of the project truly relevant to neighborhood businesses. Stay tuned for a gallery of car shots by aces photographer Victor Macias.
This project was funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov
