A California-based artist recently conceived of cutout paintings of Muffler Men that recently were erected along old Route 66 in Calumet, Oklahoma.
John Cerney of Salinas, California, who has art pieces all over the United States, creates a piece of public art he gives away once a year.
As collaborator Scott Farmer of Sculpture Island put it in an email to Route 66 News: “He likes to put his giant paintings in rural areas where people driving by will not be expecting to see them.”
Farmer wrote:
A couple weeks ago he installed his “Muffler Men” project right along Route 66 in Calumet, OK. The artwork consists of an 18ft tall Paul Bunyan and an 18ft tall Uniroyal Gal in their traditional poses. But next to them is a clean shaven Muffler Man dressed as a retro gas station attendant breaking out of that rigid pose and doing the twist. I am a sculptor, and I contributed to this project by making the dancing Muffler Man that John used as a reference. […]
John was looking for a location for the artwork, and even put out a call for suggestions on Phlash Phelps Sirius XM show. When Mary Beth Babcock saw the work in progress pictures on John’s Instagram feed, she started scouting locations in Tulsa but eventually put John in touch with Rhys Martin who wound up calling the Lt. Governor who called up a friend in Calumet who agreed to host the art on his farm!
Rhys Martin is the president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association. Kudos to Martin and Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell for figuring out a way to get it done.
Babcock, who owns Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on Route 66 in Tulsa, posted about the art installation a couple of weeks ago on Facebook:
Here’s the original sketch of the “Muffler Men” installation:
Calumet is part of a late 1920s to early 1930s alignment of Route 66 that led to Geary and a toll bridge at the South Canadian River at Bridgeport. That portion was bypassed by the mid-1930s when a new, free bridge, later known as the Pony Bridge, was built over the river.
Muffler Men are 18- to 25-foot-tall fiberglass sculptures built mainly as an eye-catching roadside gimmick. They mostly were created in the 1960s, although Babcock had a unique one created specifically for her shop in Tulsa earlier this year.
(Images of the Muffler Men installation courtesy of Scott Farmer)