Marmon Wasp sculpture, Ferraris fuel Artomobilia attractions

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The Marmon Wasp will land at the Carmel Artomobilia.

Arlon Bayliss’ sculpture of the Marmon Wasp will make its public debut at Artomobilia, set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 27 in the Carmel Arts & Design District. It will be displayed at Main Street and Range Line Road.

The Marmon Motor Car Co. was an automobile manufacturer in the early 1900s. A Marmon Wasp, driven by Ray Harroun, won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911.

The sculpture is set to be placed at the roundabout at 96th Street after it is showcased at Artomobilia.

“It is stunning and it’s really huge,” said Artomobilia executive director John Leonard, a Carmel resident. “It’s 35 feet long. You don’t get a sense of how large these sculptures are until you get up to them. It’s a unique opportunity for Carmel residents and anyone else to see one of these sculptures up close and personal. Once it gets installed in the roundabout, no one ever walks up to it. You drive past them.”

Besides the sculpture, another highlight will be the the assortment of Ferraris featured as Artmobilia is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the automaker.

Leonard said 500 cars have entered  Artomobilia.

“We had a barnburner number of cars last year,” Leonard said. “Some were holdovers from 2020 because of the cancellation (because of) COVID-19.”

Leonard said there are three sub events under Arto-Palooza, called Lotus-Palooza, BMV-Palooza and Porsche-Palooza.

“They are kind of a car show within a car show,” Leonard said. “The Porsches will be together on Range Line Road, and they’ll have the judging criteria by the individual clubs.”

Artomobilia weekend starts with Fuelicious, a culinary experience, along with a collection of distinct cars, at 8 p.m. Aug. 26 at The Bridgewater Club in Westfield. It previously was held at Lucas Estate in Carmel.

The Shift Road Rally, which is set to begin at 9 a.m. Aug. 28, begins in downtown Indianapolis at the Silo Auto Club and Conservancy. Leonard said it starts downtown because it travels toward southern Indiana.

“We have what’s called a poker rally,” he said. “We stop and have lunch. It’s one way to exercise your car (on a road trip) and have fun with your friends.”

Leonard said proceeds raised from Shift and the other two events will benefit Meals on Wheels of Central Indiana.

Artomobilia debuted in 2008 with approximately 50 cars.

“With the development of Carmel and their support, we’ve grown it to be one of the largest planned car events in Indiana,” Leonard said. “Every year, we have 20,000 to 25,000 people show up for it. The only event in Carmel that is larger is CarmelFest.”

Leonard said Artomobilia doesn’t use outside vendors because it wants to encourage support of Arts & Design District merchants.

“There is a lot of beer, sandwiches and ice cream,” he said. “The only outside vendor is (Carmel’s) Bier Brewery, and it will provide beer during our awards celebration. We want all the interest (to be) on the vendors of the Arts & Design District. We know where our bread is buttered. In talking to the merchants, it’s one of the best revenue days because of the number of people that come out.”

Some of the art galleries typically display automobile-related artwork.

To buy tickets for Fuelicious or for more information, visit artomobilia.org.


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