Page 21 - AAA Magazine – AAA Ohio Auto Club – May 2019

Robert Frank – Belle Isle, Detroit. 1955.
auto industry flourished and was
closely associated with the region’s
livelihood. Just 60 miles south of
Detroit, the Toledo Museum of Art
is well-positioned to host this
exhibition, as Toledo played an integral role in the development of the automobile and its accompanying culture from its earliest days. Among other essential connections to the automotive economy, Toledo
was home to the innovative and design-oriented Willys-Overland Company, which started manufacturing a workhouse vehicle for the U.S. Army in 1941. The vehicle, named the Jeep, remains an American icon. From the Jeep’s sturdy, all-steel, four-wheel-drive design, Willys-Overland developed the Jeep Station Wagon in 1949, the origins of America’s (and the world’s) continuing infatuation with the sport utility vehicle, now the single largest automotive segment.
The exhibition “Life is a Highway” invites its visitors to experience how artists have engaged with the layered
Stuart Davis – Landscape with Garage Lights. 1931–32.
Claes Oldenburg – Profile Airflow. 1969.
associations connected to the automobile, which has become such a symbolic expression of who we are. Reisenfeld adds, “Artists are very responsive to the cultural issues of their day and possess a unique
ability to communicate these concerns through their creative expressions. They not only reveal to us earlier attitudes held toward automotive culture, but also the fundamental ways car culture has shaped our society and transformed the environment we live in. This exhibition, with its spectrum of artists working in various media, ensures there will be something for everyone to discover and enjoy in the galleries.”
The Toledo Museum of Art is at 2445 Monroe St., Toledo, Ohio. For more information about the exhibition or the museum, visit toledomuseum.org.
Edward Burtynsky – Oxford Tire Pile #8. 1999.
Mike Brice is public relations specialist for the Toledo Museum of Art.
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