New art space at Powerhouse Visitors Center in Kingman to feature Bob Waldmire

New art space at the Powerhouse Visitors Center in Kingman, Arizona, will feature the works of late Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire when it opens March 14.

According to a news release from the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, the art space will feature Route 66 artwork on a rotating basis.

The news release also explains how the art space in the visitors center came to be:

The space was previously a reading room that housed the association’s documents, photos, and poster collection from the past 30 years. Visitors and journalists were welcome to look through our history or use records for their articles or projects. Over the last two years, Northern Arizona University’s Cline Library collected all of the Association’s historical records and transported them to Flagstaff for archiving and safekeeping. The reading room was empty and needed some repairs.
The association knew the space needed a new purpose. A rotating art exhibit that focused on Route 66 felt like a great addition to the museum’s current displays. It will add to the visitor experience and allow the association to honor artists who are as passionate about Route 66 as we are. The association donated $10,000 to the Mohave County Historical Society to cover repair and supply costs to repurpose the room.

“The association was eager to honor Bob for his contributions to Route 66 Arizona by exhibiting his works in the inaugural show,” the release also stated.

The Waldmire exhibit will open to the public at 9 a.m. March and run through January 2021. Admission to the Route 66 museum in the Powerhouse Visitors Center is $4 per person. The ticket is good for admission to two other Kingman attractions: the Mohave Museum and the Bonelli House.

Waldmire was a member of the association and a previous owner of the now-beloved Hackberry General Store along old Route 66 in Hackberry, Arizona.

Waldmire, a son of Cozy Dog Drive-In founder Ed Waldmire, wandered up and down Route 66 for more than three decades. His celebrity on the Mother Road continued to grow, culminating with him winning the prestigious John Steinbeck Award at the Steinbeck Awards Dinner in 2004.

He served as the unofficial inspiration to the Volkwagen minibus named Fillmore in the 2006 animated movie “Cars” by Disney-Pixar. The minibus originally was going to be named Waldmire, but he refused to let it be called that because toys bearing his name would have been placed in McDonald’s Happy Meals, violating his vegetarian principles. Bob’s decision potentially kept him from lucrative earnings, but he was firm about the decision and expressed no regrets about it.

Waldmire also was well-known for being a devoted environmentalist. He urged travelers to look out for animals while driving.

He scratched out a living selling his intricate pen-and-ink drawings, especially at Route 66 gatherings. His artwork, which bears a resemblance to Robert Crumb‘s, hangs in many homes across the globe.

His VW and a school bus he converted into a home sit on display at the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac.

Waldmire died of abdominal cancer in 2009. He was 64.

(Image of Bob Waldmire in 2006 by cobalt123; image of Bob Waldmire’s artwork by Didier Lahousse, both via Flickr)

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