Art Cars Make Pit Stop at Ben Taub
 

 

Crosby (L-R), Solomon and Julie Lawton, Child Life Assistant, look in amazement at the Toyota turned Hippo.

With a little imagination and a collection of 1,180 hippopotamuses, it seemed fitting that Sue Shefman would turn her only car, a Toyota Rav 4, into “Harmony the Hippo-auto-mus.”

The purple hippo – along with other art cars like the “Fruitmobile” and “Women Rock” – made a stop at Ben Taub on May 13, leaving pediatric patients and passers-by delighted and amazed.

Harmony the Hippo caught the eye of eight-year-old Keon Crosby. Shefman told him to wink at Harmony so she'd wink back. And with a pull of a string Harmony winked and Crosby smiled.

What started out as a 1967 Ford Country Squire Station wagon took owner Jackie Harris two weeks to convert into the “Fruitmobile.” Every once in a while, Harris said she needs to take time to freshen up the fruit and adds new items.

While the art car owners chatted with passersby's, 3-year-old pediatric patient Joseph Solomon was nearby, taking it all in, not sure what to think.

“I can tell he's having a good time,” said his mother Josephine Solomon.