Art Car Parade winners are riding high

The 37th annual Art Car Parade dazzled the streets of Allen Parkway and downtown Houston on Saturday, as hundreds of colorfully decorated cars rolled down the streets in a celebration of creative expression.

A panel of judges awards more than $15,000 in cash prizes each year in a variety of categories for artists in the Art Car Parade. Here is the list of this year’s winners:

Ann Harithas Legacy Award

The Ploppet — Siblings Claire and Kyle Johnson, The Ploppets Team

First Place Art Cars

• Orange Horse — David Best

• Little Horn, The Baby Rhino — Kimi Bainter

• Car Pet — George Sacaris and Family

Second Place Art Cars

• Mixed Media — Katie Lopez and Northland Christian School

• Temple Trip — Women Who Weld & Evelyn Faschnact

• Ghost Slipper — Ty Eckley

Third Place Art Cars

• Wolf Pack — Sharon Wilcutts and St. Francis Episcopal School Wolf Pack

• Just Out for a Spin — Keith Wright and the Monday Night Supper Club

• Super Hero School Supplies — Imani School

Rockstar Rookie Award

• Carro de los Muertos — Citlali Estrada

• Ortiz MS — Ortiz Art Monsters

Contraptions

• 1st place: Apocalyptic Robot Contraption = ART — Josh Waddell, 3 Bulls UPcycling

• 2nd place: Fat Rat — Larry and Adriana, Rat Pack

• 3rd place: Snoopy the Red Baron — Bob Wink

Daily Driver

• 1st place: Paisley Chaos — Richard Tuthill

• 2nd place: Scrappy the Truck — Elizabeth Burnham & JD Metals

• 3rd place: Tiny Tesla — Cody Hovland

Lowrider – Performance

• 1st place: Psycho — Thomas Mechell/Israel de La Garza

• 2nd place: El Bandolero —

Dennis Bandolero

• 3rd place: Bust a Move — Vicki Sapon

Lowrider – Paint

• 1st place: Xiflala — Quesa Dilla / Yesenia Hernandez

• 2nd place: Southern Look — Daniel Perez

• 3rd place: Side Chick — Christian Rodriguez

Best Commercial Entry – Sponsor

Howl and Splash at Great Wolf Lodge — RootLab with Great Wolf Lodge Texas Gulf Coast

Youth Group

• 1st place: Es Una Tradicion “It’s a Tradition” — Kerrianne Clabaugh and Sam Houston Math, Science, Tech HS Visual Arts Team

• 2nd place: Beetlejuice — Teresa Megahan and Tanglewood Middle School

• 3rd place: Children are Flowers, You’ve Got to Let Them Grow — Kimberly Grimer and Garden Oaks Montessori

Political Statement

Don’t Have a Cow — Kim Hammond

Performance

Super HappyFunland Cardboard Puppet Truck — Arthur Brian

Painted Car

• 1st place: Siren Song — Gary Mcgaughy and Carnes Parade Krewe

• 2nd place: Rosy — Mary Forbes

• 3rd place: Elemental State of Mind — Mehueman

Music

The SWAT BUS — Ken Crimmins and Super Wacky Art Team

Best Nonprofit Entry

Art is in the Making — Nicole Peralta and the Arts District Houston/Kearin Cook

SLAB Cars

Sweet — Bernard Johnson and Texas Wire Wheels

Bike (Bicycle)

Three-way tie for first place:

• Sugarlands Finest — Michael Sanchez and Sammy Sanchez

• Phoenix — James Gomez and Lisa Gomez

• Candy Apple Red — James Gomez

Orange Show Special Mention

The Sunflower — Joe Haden

Hard Luck Award

Carnegie Vanguard — Jamie Ford and students at Carnegie Vanguard

Best Party While Driving

Ranger Ted and the Space Dinosauers — Joseph Blanchard and the Galactic Cruisers

Photos by Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Orange Horse from David Best was one of three first-place winners in the Art Cars category of the Art Car Parade, which took place Saturday on the streets of Allen Parkway and downtown.

Judges award more than $15,000 in cash prizes each year to the parade’s winning artists.

Hundreds of colorfully decorated cars were part of the 37th annual parade.