{"id":505,"date":"2026-04-17T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/?p=505"},"modified":"2026-04-17T11:46:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T11:46:00","slug":"gallup-artist-creates-route-66-inspired-jackrabbit-sculpture-from-salvaged-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/?p=505","title":{"rendered":"Gallup artist creates Route 66-inspired jackrabbit sculpture from salvaged car"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAs we continue celebrating the 100th anniversary of Route 66, we&#8217;re watching the news on Court Action Seven. A new roadside attraction is drawing attention to the Mother Road. Alyssa Mu\u00f1oz met the artist behind the work. Click here for more information. inspiration. Roadside attractions have drawn travelers away from Route 66 for nearly 100 years. It&#8217;s the car, it&#8217;s the billboard, and Gallup&#8217;s latest installation, a sculpture called &#8220;RUN,&#8221; does just that. Please come closer. Let&#8217;s take a look. Behind the piece is local artist Robert Wilson. As a former doctor, much to my delight, Wilson left in 2016 to pursue art full-time, working in a medium known as recycled art, transforming salvaged materials into detailed pieces of art that he shapes, sculpts, welds, and attempts to do as best he can. something. My term will now be elegant. The idea came from an encounter with a jackrabbit in West Mesa. I thought this was a great symbol of Route 66. Built from a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air, the car&#8217;s natural shape helped make this piece stand out. The 53 Chevrolet Bel Air has the kind of curves and muscle that I think would be perfect for an animal like a jackrabbit. This project pushed Wilson into new territory, having never used a plasma torch before, bought one, learned how to use it, and never wrecked a car. This is the remainder of the material used to execute the final sculpture, which is 10 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and weighs more than 1,200 pounds. Basically it&#8217;s the size of the car. After more than a year of work. Trying to find it, trying it on, flipping it on, and finally saying, &#8220;This is it,&#8221; was both fun and difficult. You&#8217;ll also find some hidden surprises. The left eye is a speedometer, which I disassembled and tack-welded the needle at 106km\/h. Did you understand? It&#8217;s more than just a sculpture. Look for the legs and ears and think about what part of the car was used to make the legs. That leg. This is a work that turns scraps into symbols O\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"mobile\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- blocks\/ad.twig --><\/p>\n<p><!-- blocks\/ad.twig --><\/p>\n<div class=\"mobile\">\n<p><!-- article\/blocks\/headline --><\/p>\n<section class=\"article-headline\">\n<p>Gallup artist creates Route 66-inspired jackrabbit sculpture from salvaged car<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- \/article\/blocks\/headline --><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-branding\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tUpdated: April 17, 2026 5:46 AM (MDT)\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\tEditing standards <span class=\"info-icon\">\u24d8<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- article\/blocks\/byline --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/article\/blocks\/byline --><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tGallup&#8217;s new roadside attraction is gaining attention, with local artist Robert Wilson unveiling &#8220;Run,&#8221; a giant jackrabbit sculpture inspired by Route 66 and made from salvaged materials. Wilson, who left his medical job in 2016 to focus on art full-time, specializes in &#8220;recycled art,&#8221; which involves turning discarded items into elaborate works of art. \u201cI was very happy,\u201d Wilson said of the opportunity to create the sculpture. The idea for &#8220;Run&#8221; came from an encounter with a jackrabbit in West Mesa. &#8220;I thought this was a great symbol of Route 66,&#8221; Wilson said. He used parts from a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air and explained how the car&#8217;s natural shape influenced the design. \u201cThe \u201953 Chevrolet Bel Air has kind of curves and muscle that I think would be perfect for an animal like a jackrabbit,\u201d he said. The project required Wilson to learn new techniques. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never used a plasma torch before, but I got one and learned how to use it. And I haven&#8217;t wrecked any cars,&#8221; he said. The completed sculpture is 10 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and weighs more than 1,200 pounds. &#8220;It&#8217;s basically the size of a car,&#8221; Wilson said. After more than a year of work, he said the process was both fun and difficult. \u201cIt was fun and difficult at the same time,\u201d he said. This sculpture includes hidden details such as a speedometer used as the left eye. &#8220;I took it apart and tack-welded the needle at 106 miles per hour. You get the idea,&#8221; Wilson said. He also encouraged visitors to take a closer look at the works. &#8220;Look for parts of the legs and ears and think about what part of the car was used to make that leg or leg,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Run&#8221; turns scrap into a symbol of movement and the spirit of the open road.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content--body-text\">\n<p>Gallup&#8217;s new roadside attraction is gaining attention, with local artist Robert Wilson unveiling &#8220;Run,&#8221; a giant jackrabbit sculpture inspired by Route 66 and made from salvaged materials.  <\/p>\n<p>Wilson, who left his medical job in 2016 to focus on art full-time, specializes in &#8220;recycled art,&#8221; which involves turning discarded items into elaborate works of art. \u201cI was very happy,\u201d Wilson said of the opportunity to create the sculpture.  <\/p>\n<p><!-- article\/blocks\/side-floater --><\/p>\n<p><!-- article\/blocks\/side-floater --><\/p>\n<p>The idea for &#8220;Run&#8221; came from an encounter with a jackrabbit in West Mesa. &#8220;I thought this was a great symbol of Route 66,&#8221; Wilson said. He used parts from a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air and explained how the car&#8217;s natural shape influenced the design. \u201cThe \u201953 Chevrolet Bel Air has kind of curves and muscle that I think would be perfect for an animal like a jackrabbit,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n<p>The project required Wilson to learn new techniques. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never used a plasma torch before, but I got one and learned how to use it. And I haven&#8217;t wrecked any cars,&#8221; he said.  <\/p>\n<p>The completed sculpture is 10 feet tall, 12 feet wide, and weighs more than 1,200 pounds. &#8220;It&#8217;s basically the size of a car,&#8221; Wilson said. After more than a year of work, he said the process was both fun and difficult. \u201cIt was fun and difficult at the same time,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n<p>This sculpture includes hidden details such as a speedometer used as the left eye. &#8220;I took it apart and tack-welded the needle at 106 miles per hour. You get the idea,&#8221; Wilson said. He also encouraged visitors to take a closer look at the works. &#8220;Look for parts of the legs and ears and think about what part of the car was used to make that leg or leg,&#8221; he said.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Run&#8221; turns scrap into a symbol of movement and the spirit of the open road.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>#Gallup #artist #creates #Route #66inspired #jackrabbit #sculpture #salvaged #car<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we continue celebrating the 100th anniversary of Route 66, we&#8217;re watching the news on Court Action Seven. A new roadside attraction is drawing attention to the Mother Road. Alyssa Mu\u00f1oz met the artist behind the work. Click here for more information. inspiration. Roadside attractions have drawn travelers away from Route 66 for nearly 100 &#8230; <a title=\"Gallup artist creates Route 66-inspired jackrabbit sculpture from salvaged car\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/?p=505\" aria-label=\"Read more about Gallup artist creates Route 66-inspired jackrabbit sculpture from salvaged car\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[738,629,718,727,736,731,733,729,735,721,725,739,722,732,734,723,730,720,737,741,740,719],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-66inspired","tag-artist","tag-car","tag-chevrolet-bel-air","tag-creates","tag-curve","tag-encounter","tag-feet","tag-gallup","tag-gallup-artist","tag-great-symbol","tag-jackrabbit","tag-jackrabbit-sculpture","tag-natural-shape","tag-new-roadside-attraction","tag-part","tag-plasma-torch","tag-root","tag-route","tag-salvaged","tag-sculpture","tag-wilson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}