Jimi Hendrix-Inspired ArtCar Debuts in Denver

Freshly-wrapped Hendri-Z car. MessageToLove

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A Jimi Hendrix-inspired art car will debut in Littleton on Sunday, June 5, and then vroom into Denver on Saturday, June 11.

The project was brought to life by the nonprofit  Message to Love as a way to help spread awareness for its Guitar Gifting program. MTL collects unwanted guitars and refurbishes them before giving them to low-income youth who cannot afford to buy their own instruments. The organization prides itself on spreading its love of music to younger generations, and hopes the art car will increase guitar donations to continue the initiative.

“Our mission is to celebrate the life, music and legacy of Jimi Hendrix by putting guitars into the hands of kids who need them," says MTL founder John Paul Marosy. “Like Jimi Hendrix himself, Message to Love believes in the power of music to change lives for the better."

The "Hendri-Z" art car is a 2010 Nissan 370Z convertible that displays four original abstract pieces of art inspired by Hendrix, with a copper sculpture of a guitar mounted on the back hood. The guitar sculpture, created by Mark Noll, is modeled after the Fender Stratocaster that Hendrix played at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The paintings that adorn the "Hendri-Z" were done by Michael Freeman, then digitized by Adam Carnesis and applied to the vehicle by PureBlind Wraps & Graphics. The project took over two years to complete, and began at the start of the pandemic.

click to enlarge

PureBlind team with the freshly wrapped Hendri-Z car.

MessageToLove

“Going to those Jimi Hendrix screenings and concerts really changed my life for the better," says Marosy. "I always had a dream of creating a unique work of art to celebrate Jimi Hendrix."

MTL partnered with Youth on Record to collaborate on the project. It's a natural partnership: YOR helps youth learn various performance skills including spoken word, poetry, singing or playing musical instruments. It also has a recording studio, where it teaches teens the basics of recording and engineering music.

“We are so excited to be partnering with Youth on Record," says Marosy. "It is an organization that reaches exactly the group that we want to reach. It's a perfect fit between our mission of finding guitars and putting them into the hands of kids that need them and a group that really is beautifully serving at-risk youth groups."

The "Hendri-Z" debuts at the Colorado Concours d’Elegance and Exotic Sports Car Show, Sunday, June 5, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Arapahoe Community College, 5900 South Santa Fe Drive in Littleton. It will also be on display at the YOR Block Party, 1301 West Tenth Avenue, Saturday, June 11, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Learn more about Message to Love at its website, where you can also donate to its cause.