Inspired by the Life is a Highway: Art and American Car Culture exhibition, art and car enthusiasts alike are invited to view unique vehicles, enjoy live music, and participate in kid-friendly art making experiences. Admission to Car Shows at TMA is free. Featured live music by The Rocket Marching Band and The Good The Bad & The Blues.


The first large-scale domestic exhibition to provide a historical overview of this topic with an emphasis upon the Midwest, Life Is a Highway will bring together a diverse selection of artists to showcase the automobile’s reshaping of the 20th-century American landscape and cultural attitudes of self-expression. Featuring more than 100 works from the Toledo Museum of Art’s own collection and both private and public loans, this exhibition will chart the rise of automobility as a visual icon of American identity. With works spanning from early depictions through the Pop Artists’ portrayal of the automobile’s impact upon consumer culture to the present, the car’s image as a symbol of newness, freedom and independence, mobility, and renewal will be explored. Organized through four themes that call attention to the social, aesthetic, environmental, and industrial dimensions of its legacy, this exhibition will include a range of visual media.

This is a ticketed exhibition. Tickets are free for members; $12 for nonmembers; $10 for military, college students, and seniors; $7 for youth ages 5-17, free for children four years of age or younger.



Free Admission Thursday Evenings
Free admission to "Life Is a Highway" for all visitors will take place Thursday evenings from 5 to 9 p.m. during the run of the exhibition. Visitors can claim their free ticket (one per person) at the information desk upon arrival. Thursday evening tickets will not be available in advance or online.



Car Shows at TMA
Inspired by the exhibition LIfe is a Highway: Art and American Car Culture, art and car enthusiasts alike are invited to view unique vehicles, enjoy live music, and participate in kid-friendly art making experiences. Car Shows at TMA will take place on TMA Grounds from noon–3 p.m. on June 15, August 24 and September 14. The themes of each show are:

Saturday, June 15: Cars & Coffee
Saturday, July 13: Block Party ft. Jeep
Saturday, Aug. 24: American Classic Cars
Saturday, Sept. 14: Art & Modified Cars
Admission to Car Shows at TMA is free.