“Georgia Peach”, Ink/Colored pencil by Tom Jones

“Kaleidoscope”, Acrylic by Phil Dellasega

“Apalachicola, Florida”, Oil by Penny Wilkinson

“Yellow Bike”, acrylic by Ernie Reich

“The Road In”, Acrylic by Rod Dutton

“Faded Loves”, Watercolor by Nic Frising

"Harley and Hostas", Acrylic by David Winward

“The Enthusiast”, Giclee on Canvas by David Uhl

“Here I Go Again Dreaming”, Giclee on Canvas by Colleen Ross

“P J’s” View”, Giclee on Canvas by Scott Jacobs

Nic Frising's 1956 Simplex Automatic

"Copper Canyon", collage by Al Letner

Skull helment by Jack Davis

"Echoes of Thunder", Giclee on Canvas by Tom Fritz

"The Journey", photograph by Michael Lichter

Jo Mueller makes sure a painting is level as she prepares for the exhibit “Art and the Open Road: Motorcycles, Images, Icons” which opens Saturday, June 26 and runs through Sept. 3 at George A. Spiva Center for the Arts, 222 W. Third St. in Joplin. In the foreground is a 1930 Ariel Model G Special.

1941 Indian Model 441 (foreground), 1930 Ariel Model G Special (background)

It’s an art exhibit made for all those who were born to be wild.

“Art and the Open Road: Motorcycles, Images, Icons” opens Saturday and runs through Sept. 3 at the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts, 222 W. Third St. in Joplin.

Spiva director Jo Mueller said she expects the exhibit to attract people who have never been to the center.

“Motorcycles have all this mystique. They represent freedom, danger, adventure and the open road,” Mueller said. “They are very much American icons.”

The grand opening is set for 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday and will be held in conjunction with the kickoff of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Ride for Life. Three hundred bikes are expected to fill the blocked-off streets around Spiva before setting off on the Ride for Life.

Visitors can purchase food from Lumpy’s BBQ and Woody’s Woodfire Pizza while getting temporary tattoos from an artist with New Age Air Brush Body Art.

The Spiva exhibit includes two floors of photographs and paintings by local and national artists. But the belles of the show are five bikes parked in the middle of the main exhibit. The oldest is a 1930 Ariel Model G Special, one of 24 made. There are only four known to be still in existence, and this model is the only one in the United States. Bob Davis of Arkansas loaned the Ariel, as well as his 1941 Indian Model 441. Davis was trained at the Indian factory in Springfield, Mass., as a mechanic. He said he rides both the Indian and Ariel bikes, but the Indian’s foot clutch, sometimes called a suicide clutch, can be a hazard on the road.

And no motorcycle show would be complete without a hog.

In this case, Harley Davidson is represented by a 2002 Dyna Wide Glide with a custom paint job owned by Joplin resident Terry Bechtel. Cycle Connection Harley-Davison/Buell, sponsor of both the Ride for Life and the Spiva exhibit, loaned a 2003 custom Vengeance Softail, which is for sale.

Voluntary contributions are accepted for entry to the exhibit. Proceeds from Saturday’s event will be split between the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Spiva.

For more information, please call 417-623-0183.

George A. Spiva Center for the Arts
222 W. 3rd Street
Joplin, Mo 64801
Tel: 417-623-0183
Fax: 417-623-3805
www.spivaarts.org

Jo Mueller, Director