Topsy-Turvy Bus - Political Art in Action

Topsy-Turvy Bus Designed by Stefan Sagmeister and Ben Cohen
Photo © Harrod Blank 2007

America's budget priorities are upside down! We spend billions on weapons and military actions (invasions, occupations, wars, etc.) and have under-funded education ever since Reaganomics started bleeding our government dry.

Our nation's spending priorities allow crumbling schools, millions of children with no health coverage, dependence on Middle East oil and deficits as far as you can see. - Ben Cohen (speaking as president of the Priorities Campaign)

ArtCar Artist (Topsy-Turvy's lead builder) Tom Kennedy
Photo © Ken Duffy 2007

My friend and fellow ArtCar artist, Tom Kennedy (as well as many other amazing ArtCar and Burning Man artists here in the SF Bay Area), just finished building a fabulous rolling sculpture for Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and True Majority.




















Topsy-Turvy Bus
Photo © Ken Duffy 2007

The Topsy-Turvy Bus is currently criss-crossing the nation. Tom and his partner Haideen Anderson will bring this important political message to the streets of America.

Kennedy is driving Topsy from California on a national tour to reach New Hampshire where Topsy will spend two months before rounding out the year in Iowa, all to flush out the spending priorities of presidential candidates. "Our military arsenal is big enough to blow up every major city 10 times," said Kennedy, citing numbers compiled by Cohen. "What we're saying with the bus is that if we just cut back to blowing up every city four times, we could save 40 billion a year for things like schools." - Artist Tom Kennedy Tour Info

My husband Ken and I were invited to the send-off party for this amazing vehicle. The VainVan along with several other local ArtCars escorted "Topsy" across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. We drove this kooky caravan over to the Ben & Jerry's on the corner of Haight and Ashbury. You can view some terrific photos my husband, artist Ken Duffy, took that night over on his Flickr page.

Check out Ken's full set of ArtCar photos Here! He's been documenting this unusual art form for years now and is in the process of creating his own ArtCar as well.

Please respect the work of the artists you see here and be sure to credit them when you share their artwork with others.

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