Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Taxi Art

Recently, yellow taxicabs were decorated with flowers to celebrate 100 years of motorized, metered taxis in New York City. The project entitled, Garden in Transit was started by two brothers, Ed and Bernie Massey from California in 2000. Over 27,000 pieces of vinyl sheets were painted by children in schools and hospitals and used to cover the roofs and top surfaces of about 12,700 taxicabs in the city.

Of the painted flowers above, which is your favorite?

26 comments:

• Eliane • said...

Dang!! You beat me to it! I think this is such a great initiative. Everything looks so much better with a bunch of flowers, doesn't it?

Bel said...

How cool is that! My favourite is the pink flowers....and I agree with Eliane....everything DOES look so much better with a bunch of flowers. They're like smiles :o)

teahouse said...

I like the ones with the pink. They're all so colorful and festive!!

Kate said...

Super idea; colourful, cheerful, and whimsical. Great. The upper right is my favorite.

Shammickite said...

I like the orange flowers with the red middles.
What a great idea! I hope the boss of taxis in Toronto reads your blog, we could do with some brightening up around here!

Lynette said...

Oh, my. Ming, I cannot pick a favorite. I'm a big-time flower lover; I wear an enamel flower pin to work every day! Super-dooper photos. I'm gushing, but I can't help myself. And guess what I thought they were when I saw them on the portal? Some sort of iced cookies!

Mama and I got a laugh out of your comment about our neighbors' electricity use. Thanks for visiting.

Lavenderlady said...

Now that is a hard choice...but I think I like the first one. This is a great idea...I'd love to ride in a flower colored taxi.

Steve Cuddihy said...

No kidding....100 years of taxis eh?

Would you believe, I've been inside the sheet metal walls of a taxi only two times in my 38 years?

Olivier said...

Superbe, l'idee est grandiose, je les aime tous. Bravo aux taxis new yorkais


Superb, the idea is imposing, I like them all. Cheer with the taxis new yorkais

Jilly said...

Wow! You'd not miss these, would you? Are they to be permanently on the yellow cabs?

I like the bottom right best - it picks up the yellow of the cab.

Craftymoose Crafts said...

Those are really cool! I like the purple with the orange centers the best--I like bold!

Anonymous said...

I like them all but the one colored like the taxi color would be my favotite of those shown.

Anonymous said...

Very funny this taxi !!!

Jun said...

my. they're pretty! how long will they be on the taxis for?

Ming the Merciless said...

Jilly & Jun - I don't know how long this program will last. As you can see, some of the flowers on the vinyl sheets are already losing its paint job. I don't think new ones will be added once the current ones fade.

Lori said...

I've been seeing those all around town these days. You've gotten some really colorful shots of them. I like the yellow flower with the green background the best. I think they look really nice and cheerful!

Anonymous said...

I like all of them! First on van/buses, now art on taxi. That's great!

Clueless in Boston said...

WOW! Now that is colorful. Do they run on flower power??

Chris said...

Right side. . . Middle taxi.

What a great idea!

NormanTheDoxie said...

I was wondering what was going on with all those flowery taxis....great concept and great photos.

Anonymous said...

I noticed this new cab design. Almost took pics of them but didn't. Glad you did. They actually look nice. Spruces up the yellow cabs a bit. ;-)

Paz

Pia K said...

Love them! My favourite one is probably the one with the bright pink flowers - you can never go wrong with a bit of pink:)

Todd HellsKitchen said...

Thanks for the background info on this... I've been taking many photos of these taxis myself... And wondered why all the fancy colors...

I love your little montage

Anonymous said...

> Over 27,000 pieces of vinyl
> sheets were painted by
> children in schools and
> hospitals

But it wasn't just children doing the painting; I painted vinyl with flowers, too, and I am not a kid at all.

I even took photos of the painting process. See? Painting a Garden in Transit

Anonymous said...

Anulla, your right, 80, 000 flowers were painted by 23,000 children AND adults in NYC schools and hospitals as an art therapy, education, and collaborative community project.

NYC taxis will be blooming until this December! Show your support and 'flag a flower fare!'

Anonymous said...

they are disgusting. i hate all of them. really. the yellow underneath is one of the best colors in the city, and the idea of improving on that makes me feel sick.