The traveling artwork “Running with the Devil” arrived in Simpson’s Plaza Tuesday afternoon.
The piece is the artist’s car covered in vinyl “skins” that the public was encouraged to draw on, according to the artist’s website.
“I summarize the reaction [to the artwork] as ‘very positive.’ Everyone was fantastic. I had a great time interacting with students, faculty and staff. The University of Wyoming has a beautiful campus and was an excellent background to my project,” Christopher Olszewski, the artist, wrote in an email.
Olszewski, a professor of foundational studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, created the piece after a residency at the Jentel Foundation Visiting Artist Program outside of Sheridan. He was inspired by northern Wyoming landmarks that include the word devil in their name, such as Devil’s Tower, for both the design and the name of his artwork.
“I’m just going for it,” former UW student Aram Miles said before painting the back of the car.
Students, community members and children from a local day care painted and found creative ways to decorate on the “mobile message board.”
The piece is a way to combine Olszewski’s identity as both a Polish and Native American according to his artist statement. The skin, “Heads I win tails you lose,” includes an apple that Olszewski said represents his identity as an Native American that is red on the outside and white on the inside. The car wheels are decorated with penny designs that Olszewski said symbolized luck and fortune as well as a reference to gambling and the root of all evil.
The skin will travel to Kansas City, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee and Atlanta before returning to Savannah.
