For a movement so young, the Art Car movement has seen and lost a number of highly creative and influential individuals. One of the numbers who was taken too soon was Tom Jones, a curator of Houston’s Art Car Museum and much more besides. Any time someone passes before their time it is sad. The Houston Art Car movement was doubly devastated because Tom Jones was more than just a curator in the museum; he was a fine artist himself as well as a mechanic, painter and handyman with an incredible artistic gift. His loss is still felt today, more than a year after he passed.

It was in the immediate aftermath of yet another successful Houston Art Car Parade when in the early hours of the morning Tom was sat on the curb chatting to fellow artists while waiting for someone to finish up inside the Museum before he headed home. A drunk driver, speeding around the corner, struck another car which was propelled towards Tom and his friends – a distance of about 40 feet. While one friend was able to roll out from under the car and the other was sent into the fence outside the Museum, Tom took the full weight and was pinned underneath the car. He was taken to hospital where he later died from major internal injuries.

Not only did the Art Car movement lose a major contributor that night, but the city of Houston lost a shining light, something which seems to happen all too frequently these days. Tom was remembered with love at this year’s parade and will be for many more.