When Steve and Pam Kennington found out about the Wildling Museum’s first public art initiative—inviting locals to decorate used hubcaps to be displayed throughout the Santa Ynez Valley—they jumped at the chance to contribute. The local couple even recruited some of their loved ones to join in.
“We painted the hubcaps as an afternoon family project. Our daughter brought our three grandsons, and we worked outside on the patio table,” Steve told the Sun. “Creativity is like a faucet, once you turn it on, it just starts flowing.”
Fitting into the project’s theme of celebrating nature, the family collaborated on plant and animal designs. Sunflowers, ladybugs, and turtles are among the subjects featured in their colorful hubcaps.
Like the Kenningtons, Stephen and Lisa Siemsen also set out to make their Nature Takes the Wheel experience a family affair.
“After sharing the idea with our daughter and granddaughter, we all decided to take on the challenge,” said Stephen, who also enlisted artistic support from his 25-year-old parrot, Gabriela.
“We wanted to incorporate nature and recycling into our piece, so we eventually decided to use our macaw’s cast-off feathers to create a colorful pattern on the wheel cover,” Stephen said.
Meanwhile, the Siemsens’ granddaughter, Scarlett Aurora McQuaide, 15, painted binary code across the front of her hubcap, which translates to “love.” Scarlett’s mother, Ana Lisa Siemsen-McQuaide, described her piece as “a love note to the Santa Ynez Valley,” which features a landscape-esque backdrop of seemingly infinite golden hills.
Local art therapist Stacey Thompson, who the Wildling Museum enlisted to co-organize Nature Takes the Wheel, also took part in creating some hubcap artwork of her own with her children.
“I made a few with my kids, using paint, hot glue, and natural materials,” Thompson said. “They were really excited to have their hubcaps displayed at the botanic garden.”
The Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden in Buellton hosted the first public installation of finished hubcaps and also serves as the location for Thompson’s monthly Community Art Day meeting. On the last Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., garden attendees are welcome to bring their own art supplies for a day of artwork creation (while observing social-distancing protocols).
“As an art therapist, I see art as a valuable tool for supporting mental health,” Thompson said. “Making art is therapeutic. And we all need a little therapy right now.”
Thanks to funding from the City of Buellton Arts and Culture Committee, Thompson and her teammates Kiana Beckmen and Carolyn Dorwin were able to implement the behind-the-scenes aspect of Nature Takes the Wheel, which included collecting, cleaning, and priming used hubcaps for participants to pick up and return after decorating.
“Turning hubcaps into artworks seemed like a natural for us,” Stacey Otte-Demangate, executive director of the Wildling Museum, told the Sun. “‘Upcycling’—or turning trash or disposable items into something improved and useful—is a concept we really embrace and encourage here at the Wildling.”
Like Otte-Demangate, Thompson was also excited to get involved with a public art project that encouraged upcycling, while also being open to members of the community to participate, “especially folks who don’t consider themselves artists,” she said.
“I see this project as a form of environmental activism,” Thompson said. “If we can broaden people’s idea of what qualifies as ‘art’ and get folks thinking creatively about how they can reuse everyday items, it’s a win.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood is popping wheelies at cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 20-27, 2020.
