We love to share the stories of the people who make up our amazing and colorful team.
Today our featured person is Joanne Owens, a buyer in MacPherson’s Emeryville office • Article by Mary Payton, Buyer
On any given day, when you pull into MacPherson’s Emeryville office parking lot, you may have the good fortune to see an amazing work of art on wheels. Created by one of our amazing buyers, Joanne Owens, it’s a pick up truck, with hundreds of miniature toys glued to the sides in the shape of flames. This Art Car, is one of the many hobbies that Joanne takes part in outside of work. Joanne got involved with the Art Car craze about ten years ago while she was searching for ways to fix the paint on a used scooter she had purchased. She decided to do something fun and different with it, and took some ideas from other Art Cars. Soon after she discovered the Art Car movement, Joanne decided to turn her truck into an art car as well. While some cars may have themes or a message attached to them, Joanne chose to decorate her car with toys because it was the easy to collect them from friends and garage sales.
One of the big events that art cars participate in is the ArtCar Fest held in the Bay Area (check the website ArtCarFest.com), which concludes with the “How Berkeley Can You Be?” parade.
Once a month Joanne and other Art Car enthusiasts get together to work on their cars or to participate in events. The Bay Area is not the only place where Art Car events are held. Joanne has attended events in Houston and Seattle as well as Santa Cruz. To find an Art Car event near you, check out www.artcarcalendar.com and you may just run into Joanne!