Mark "Scrapdaddy" Bradford for the win

Art Car Parade winners include the Big Banana, Mr. Green & a pole dancing partyboat

"Mr. Green" by Mark Bradford
Photo by Isidro Urena Ramir
"The Big Banana" by Steve Braithwaite
Photo by Ed Schipul
"Earth, Wind, and Fire...and Water" by Jefferson Davis HS
"The Gold Digger" by John Avanzini
Photo by Ed Schipul
"Low Rider from Corpus Christie" by The Leal Brothers

For spectators, the 25th Annual Art Car Parade was over and done with when the last wacky vehicle crossed the finish line. But participants had to wait just a little longer to glean whether they would take home some of the $18,000 in awards and one of the handmade trophies bestowed by the Orange Show Center for Visionary Arts, the nonprofit which hosts the kooky procession.

The top dog prize — the Mayor's Cup and Grand Trophy, which carries a $2,000 bounty — went to Houston's own art car badass Mark "Scrapdaddy" Bradford.

His "Mr. Green" was skillfully crafted out of cast off materials. The creature, which seems like a character right out of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was like a marionette controlled by shifts, reins and levers.

Steve Brathwaite's "The Big Banana" doesn't fare well in inclement weather. When he drove the fruit-mobile down to Houston from Coopersburg, Pa., rains and high speeds did not make the ripe journey particularly delightful. But if the honor of hosting Mayor Annise Parker for a ride wasn't enough, Brathwaite is now $1,500 richer as one of the four First Place Art Car and Grand Trophy winners.

It's nearly impossible to imagine that prior to its metamorphosis into a fabulous, cheeky tropical edible that "The Big Banana" was once a 1993 Ford F150 pick up truck. The two years it took to peel off its layers were worth it as the cash prize will help the artist in his plans to parade it around the world to raise awareness for Deep Vein Thrombosis.

Although lessons in teamwork, creativity and problem solving were the ultimate goals of the class project, adding this recognition is a cherry on top, something these children will never forget.

That a troupe of Jefferson Davis High School students under the guidance of art car maverick Rebecca Bass and robotics teacher Paloma Garner also scooped a first-place standing and earned a trophy is significant.

CultureMap visited the group prior to the parade to observe the installation of the many moving parts. The school's art car, "Earth, Wind and Fire... and Water," was outfitted with an in-house designed computer system operated by a fog machine, a water fountain, moving arms, rising yogis and blasting music.

Although lessons in teamwork, creativity and problem solving were the ultimate goals of the class project, adding this recognition is a cherry on top, something these students will never forget.

Also on the first-place, grand trophy roster are "Low Rider from Corpus Christie" by The Leal Brothers from Corpus Christi, a hot-pink sexy thing that waddled and grooved, and "The Gold Digger" by John Avanzini from Fort Worth, a party-boat-on-wheels that also featured pirates and one sexy pole dancer.

Other concoctions receiving honors included "Fried Chicken" by Bob Wink of Bellville; "Manvel High School Art Bikes" by Manvel High School, "Vanadu" by Clarke Bedford of Hyattsville, Md.; "The Tom Kennedy Space Bus" by Larry White, Adam Adams and Monica Acuna from Houston; "Melvin The World's Only Wacky Wheeler" by Robert Sommerbell of Madison, Wis.; "Driving + Texting = Wrexting" by Madeline and Paul Galindo of Houston; and "Chopper Shop” by Workshop Houston.

For a full list of this year's winners, with photos, click here.

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she has the power

National food magazine champions Houston nonprofit head on new 'Power 100' list

Photo by Julie Soefer

Lindsey Brown is Southern Smoke's new executive director.

The leader of one of Houston’s most prominent nonprofits is basking in the national spotlight. Lindsey Brown, co-founder and executive director of the Southern Smoke Foundation, is part of the inaugural class of Cherry Bombe magazine’s Power List.

Published on June 6, the Cherry Bombe Power List is the latest initiative from the media company that focuses on women in the world of food and beverage. The list celebrates women in a range of disciplines in the food world, including TV stars such as Top Chef’s Kristen Kish and Gail Simmons; lifestyle guru Martha Stewart; powerhouse chefs such as Dominique Crenn (the only women in America to lead a three-star Michelin restaurant) and Beard Award winner Mashama Bailey (The Grey in Savannah); and actor Liza Colón-Zayas, who won an Emmy for playing Tina in The Bear.

Brown, who co-founded Southern Smoke with her husband, James Beard Award-winner (and CultureMap wine columnist) Chris Shepherd, left a successful career as a publicist to become Southern Smoke’s executive director in 2023. The organization provides assistance to hospitality workers nationwide through its Emergency Relief Fund and offers access to mental health counseling in 10 states and Washington, D.C. through its Behind You initiative. The organization's star-studded annual food festival will return to Discovery Green in October.

“It was an incredible honor — and a bit daunting — to be recognized alongside so many women I look up to,” Brown said in response to CultureMap’s request for comment. “As a former publicist, Cherry Bombe is a publication I respect for many reasons, especially because of the way they lift up and celebrate women in the industry. I never imagined being recognized on a list with my heroes like Ellen Yin, Gail Simmons, and Martha Hoover. I’m so honored and also even more focused on Southern Smoke Foundation’s mission to support the F+B industry."

Brown isn’t the only Texas on the list. Cherry Bombe also recognized chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel, who has earned both a spot in the Michelin guide and a James Beard Award finalist nomination for her Austin restaurant Birdie’s, and New York Times restaurant critic Priya Krisha, who grew up in Dallas.

“We’re honored to spotlight these amazing leaders in culinary, hospitality, philanthropy, and beyond,” Kerry Diamond, Cherry Bombe’s founder and editor-in-chief, said in a statement. “Our CEO, Kate Miller Spencer, and I came up with the idea for the Power Issue last year when we thought we would finally have a woman in the White House. That moment didn’t arrive, but the entire Cherry Bombe team remains firm believers in the power of women to lead, create change, push boundaries, and build community — especially in the food and drink space. Celebrating these women is more important than ever.”

media lists southern smoke foundation nonprofits