Lansing - Long whiskers stick out from either side of the orange painted, black striped body. Two ears poke out of either side of it and the eyes glow green in the dark.
But this isn't your ordinary tiger; this one is made of fiberglass.
The half-sized car, designed and created by Williamston resident Karen Bartlett, 45, is part of Sculpture in the Streets "Art Wheels," an auto design contest sponsored by the Lansing Art Gallery, General Motors Corp. and the Lansing Principal Shopping District "The whole thing took the whole time they gave us," Bartlett said of the four-month process. "Last month, I worked 10 hours a day - the ears took longer than expected.
Bartlett spent more than $550 to build the roaring automobile sculpture. She chose to make the car into a Detroit Tiger, and made ears out of chicken wire. She also designed a miniature clay replica of her car and said she spent almost all of the money she was given to create it.
A panel from GM and the Lansing Art Gallery in February selected 20 winners from about 50 applicants. The winners will be on display throughout Lansing starting today.
Five cars were designed by GM employees and the other 15 by Michigan residents. The artists were given a fiberglass car and a $600 honorarium to buy supplies and materials with.
"Last year we had bronze sculptures around the city and decided this year it would be nice if we could feature art by local artists," said Kathy Babcock, executive director of the Lansing Art Gallery.
"The cars are very, very exciting. They look magnificent and really surpassed my expectations."
The $700-1,400 cars, were donated by GM, who helped to design the cars' initial shape and design. Contestants were told their cars couldn't have any logos, had to be able to withstand most weather conditions and had to be appropriate for all ages.
"It took me a month or so to create it," said Okemos resident Vivian Dwyer, whose car, entitled "Flower Powered," will be on display across the street from the Mole Hole, 34 S. Washington Square in Lansing.
"It took longer than I thought it would. I would work on a section and then go back and work on another one."
Dwyer, whose flower-decorated car includes sun flowers as tires and real flowers in window boxes on the wheels, said she wanted to try and keep her designs as real as possible.
"I used real flowers in the boxes and planted them and kept them watered," Dwyer said. "I brought my car in a few hours later than everyone else and told the people watching over the cars to water them. The people who own the Mole Hole told me they would keep the flowers watered while the car stays there."
Matt Weingarden, marketing manager for the Lansing Principal Shopping District, said the city hopes the cars will attract more people to walk in the downtown area.
"Our overall goal is to bring people into downtown Lansing," Weingarden said. "There are so many unique businesses here, and we are attracting people who haven't been to the downtown in years."
