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The Topsy-Turvy Bus, lovingly known as Topsy, was designed to dramatically depict America’s upside down budget priorities. Topsy is a brainchild of Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s and noted artist Stefan Sagmeister (www.Sagmeister.com), and was constructed by artist-mechanic Tom Kennedy (http://www.TomKennedyart.com/).
Check out Topsy's blog to follow, the bus and its drivers adventures as it crosses the U.S.
“Our nation’s spending priorities allow crumbling schools, millions of children with no health coverage, dependence on Middle East oil and deficits as far as you can see,” said Ben Cohen, president of the Priorities Campaign.
Topsy started out as a typical yellow school bus, but was fabricated with its twin welded upside down to the roof by Tom Kennedy and a crew of 10 artists who are no strangers to art-cars.
“I’m a guy who’s been looking to use art cars for social change, and Kennedy is a guy who wants to make art cars for a living with some social purpose,” Cohen said. “Clearly, we were both searching for each other.”
 Kennedy is driving Topsy from California on a national tour to reach New Hampshire where Topsy will spend two months before rounding out the year in Iowa, all to flush out the spending priorities of presidential candidates.
Topsy also doubles as a mobile-theatre with an onboard video screen, which explains the federal budget in similarly entertaining fashion. Click here to view this video online.
To read the San Francisco Chronicle April 11, 2007 article on the Topsy-Turvy Bus click here.
Yahoo UnderGround Video
Topsy-Turvy School Bus On-Board Video
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The Priorities! Oreo Mobile, a mobile performance vehicle, uses giant Oreos to show how Congress divides the federal budget, and where the cookies would fall if they were stacked according to the people's priorities. It has spent the past few summers touring around New Hampshire and Iowa entertaining and educating crowds where ever it goes.
The Priorities! CarnyMobile spent last year rolling to all corners of New Hampshire and Iowa. The Carny Mobile consists of two carnival games: the Budget Wheel of Fortune and a Today's Needs vs. Cold War Weapons Hi-Striker.The CarnyMobile was most used for presentations with groups, festivals, concerts, community events.
The PieMobiles are large copies of the federal budget. We have taken our federal budget pie and put it on wheels to move it's way around to show Iowans and New Hampshire residents how the federal budget pie is sliced up.