The John Michael Kohler Arts Center's Culinary Art Car Rolls into the Sheboygan Community

SHEBOYGAN, Wis., Oct. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Blending the art-car tradition and the commercial food truck, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, in partnership with Lakeshore Technical College, explores the eat-local movement while raising awareness of the challenges some people face in bringing nourishing food to the table.

The Culinary Art Car is a Connecting Communities project in which community members play an important role by collaborating to make a piece from conception to creation. The project brings together superb artists with individuals from the area's diverse communities in order to team up on major original works of art.

The Culinary Art Car project is made possible by many supporters, including an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

This project connects a broad community in the exploration of sustainability, local food sources, and access to healthy foods through two popular interests that cross socioeconomic and cultural barriers—embellishing vehicles and food culture.

In phase one, artist-in-residence Mac Maker (CA) and his team of artists and participants explored the multicultural and international obsession with embellishing vehicles. They created a design inspired by the local Sheboygan community and connected to the idea of sustainable agriculture; then altered the vehicle into a dynamic, functioning kinetic sculpture. Hundreds of volunteer hours were put into the creation of this extraordinary piece of art on four wheels.

In phase two, artist-in-residence Robert Karimi (MN) worked with community members who are at a higher risk for Type 2 diabetes. Karimi utilized his cooking show character, "Mero Cocinero," as the chef of the vehicle. Mero comically advocates that all people should have access to local, healthy food sources. Karimi led community participants in the creation of entertaining, yet poignant site-specific performances. They shared "food stories" as the vehicle traveled around the Sheboygan area and prepared delicacies for special events.

The Culinary Art Car is a kinetic sculpture and on view at the Arts Center when not in use. When on the road, the vehicle will continue to promote healthy eating options and local farm-to-table food in the community.

More information is available at jmkac.org.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExoWz9XvDn0&feature=youtu.be
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141008/151061

SOURCE John Michael Kohler Arts Center