By David Taylor / Managing Editor
HOUSTON — A used 2020 Nissan Kicks became a rolling canvas this spring after the East Aldine Management District purchased the vehicle and partnered with Avalos P-TECH High School students to design an entry for Houston’s annual Art Car Parade.
The project, created with the East Aldine Arts Council and Up Art Studio, produced a bright, phoenix-themed design titled “Phoenix in Bloom,” drawn from student sketches and painted in time to join the parade route along Allen Parkway downtown.
“For a long time, I personally thought that this would be a great opportunity…to have the management district sponsor an art car and…work with a local school within the district,” said Carlos Silva, chair of the East Aldine Management District board.
Silva said the district had considered participating for several years, but the application deadline repeatedly arrived before planning was complete. This year, he said, the deadline was “within a week,” prompting the district to lean on Up Art Studio—already a partner on mini-mural and gateway projects in the area—to help shepherd the entry from concept to completion.
Rather than return to a campus it had partnered with before, the district approached Avalos P-TECH High School, an early college high school in Aldine ISD. Silva said district leaders spoke with Principal Dr. Cierra B. Nickerson and art teacher Carolyn Watkins, then asked students to develop ideas for how an art car could reflect their school and community. Students submitted designs that highlighted the campus phoenix mascot alongside bold floral elements and bright color palettes.
Up Art Studio artist Enzo (his street name), working from the student sketches, merged the concepts into a single look: shattered “concrete” imagery giving way to vines and blossoms, and a dramatic phoenix painted across the hood. The theme, Silva said, was meant to signal “rebirth, new beginnings, fresh opportunities,” imagery he called fitting for both the school and East Aldine.
With roughly 36 hours to spare, the district submitted its application and was accepted, Silva said. Executive Director Richard Cantu located the vehicle at a used car lot inside the district, and the district purchased the 2020 Nissan Kicks and delivered it to Up Art Studio. Silva said the project was budgeted at about $25,000, with the work coming in around $20,000.
“We were able to buy the car and get it all created and done,” he said, adding that the district owns the vehicle.
Silva drove the finished piece in the parade with his family and said the public call-outs along the route helped spotlight the partnership.
“They’re announcing you like car number 75, ‘Phoenix in Bloom’…sponsored by the East Aldine Management District and designed by the students at P-Tech Avalos High School,” Silva said.
Ahead of parade day, the car also joined “Main Street Drag,” a tour that gives students a close-up look at participating vehicles. Silva said the group visited several sites, including Texas Children’s Hospital. The parade itself drew large crowds despite brief showers, he said, describing it as a festival atmosphere that put student-created artwork in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators.
Watkins, who teaches Art 1, Painting and dual-credit art appreciation at Avalos P-TECH, said the outside support helped make a large-scale project possible.
“Luckily, East Aldine really took the lead on providing the car and funding the needed materials,” she said. “This has been a cool opportunity. We are grateful to the East Aldine Management District.”
Freshman Leah Martinez said she joined the project to help merge campus identity into one design.
“One thing that inspired me to be part of the art project was the idea of combining the school’s colors and drawings into one single piece,” Martinez said. She said the work also pushed her to learn new techniques, including how to use spray paint correctly, and to take creative risks on other canvases.
Because “Phoenix in Bloom” is primarily a painted vehicle—without large fabricated pieces—Silva said it can be driven and displayed easily. For now, he said, it is parked in front of the East Aldine Management District offices.
Silva said the district hopes the car will become a recurring platform for student art, with enough lead time for students to help build as well as design.
“Now that we have the art car, in the future, we can use the same one and redesign it,” he said. The goal, he added, is to return to the campus in the fall so the art-car process can be incorporated into the curriculum and prepared over the school year for future parades.
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