The all-seeing Eye sculpture across from the Joule Hotel downtown has equally head-turning company — at least for another week.
The vintage car inside a red-framed glass box is a public art installation by Carlos Ramirez. The piece was commissioned by PBS on its 50th anniversary as part of its national storytelling initiative, American Portrait.
Altar to a Dream is Ramirez’s shrine of sorts, rooted in his Mexican American heritage. It honors the families and laborers who traveled in cars loaded with their possessions as they followed the U.S. growing seasons for work.
Ramirez’s vehicle is covered in painted text and drawings that nod to his own American dream. The ordinary objects arranged around the car have an almost archaeological feel inside this sealed vitrine: a checkerboard and a washboard, prayer candles and a pack of Marlboros. A United Farm Workers ID card. An empty Coke bottle-turned-vase for a small American flag.
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Altar to a Dream is on display through Feb. 14 at Joule Park, 1530 Main St., Dallas.
