Smiles, Like Art, Are In The E Of The Beholder

Here is a difference between the Inland Northwest and New York City.

Here in the heartland of sensibility we drove Yugos.

In New York, Yugos were made into art. You remember Yugos. Five years ago, Yugos were the least expensive cars sold in the world.

We Inland Northwesterners loved that.

“In 1990 and 91 we sold more Yugos than any other dealer in the country,” recalled Phil Ralston , general manager of Ponderosa Motors in Coeur d’Alene. “We sold them for as low as $3,500 new. We had people coming from hundreds of miles to get them.”

That’s us. Sensible. Practical. Willing to drive all day for a bargain.

At the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Yugos came to stand for something else: Fun. Smiles. Strange twists of fate.

Kevin O’Callaghan teaches at the School of Visual Arts, the largest art school in the country. Searching for an idea his students could use for a year-end project in 1995, O’Callaghan dreamed up the idea of turning Yugos into art.

He give each student in his class the body of a junked Yugo and instructed them to turn the Yugo into something else, something useful, something that could be considered a work of art.

“It was amazing what they came up with,” O’Callaghan said.

A Yugo-turned-telephone. A Yugo-turned-backyard grill. A Yugo-turned-accordion. A Yugo-turned-Yellow Submarine.

In all, 29 Yugo-based art projects were produced in O’Callaghan’s class, from 39 junkers purchased for $3,600 through the classifieds.

What happened next?

Yugo Next has become a smash hit at art museums and car shows around the country. So far, an estimated 2 million folks have laughed and smiled at the sight of seeing what imaginative minds could do with a Yugo.

Laughing and smiling, remember those? These are normal bodily functions that occur when creative minds zap us with off-the-wall flashes of zaniness that have nothing to do with economic development, grass burning or paving the streets.

Of course, most of the people who might prompt such responses seem to be living in New York City.

In Coeur d’Alene this fourth of July parade organizers kicked out the one entrant that actually threw candy out for children. Too dangerous. Some kid might be trampled.

And of course all firecrackers were banned from Spokane and Kootenai County fireworks stands (except on the Indian reservations.) We wouldn’t want little Fluffy to have to hide under the bed, now, would we?

And of course there are still hundreds of your neighbors out there driving Yugos. I checked the junkyard.

Spalding’s car carcass graveyard in the Spokane Valley has but three junked Yugos.

Ponderosa Motors sold more than 1,300 before the factory in Belgrade was bombed and closed.

You do the math. Then, while clipping coupons from the Sunday paper, consider this. In November, the Yugo Next art show likely will be touring the country. According to O’Callaghan, promoters of the tour probably will have some time between the California exhibition and a return to Chicago or Atlanta early next year.

“We like to take it parts of the country where it has never been,” O’Callaghan said. “And we like to have it in museums. Do you have any museums up there?”

Of course we do. The Cheney Cowles, the North Idaho Museum, big exhibit space at fairgrounds and the Spokane Convention Center come to mind.

“In our comment book, people always write that it’s wonderful to go to an art show and laugh and smile,” Kevin O’Callaghan said. “They compare the show to the ugly duckling story. From the Yugo Next show they see it is possible to take something negative and turn it into a positive.”

Something positive out of being 281st best city to live.

Something positive out of being the Yugo capital of the world.

Start the petition drive now. Bring Yugo Next to Spokane or Coeur d’Alene.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo