Garage Mahal

“Garage Mahal” is a term taken from the Taj Mahal, the famed palace in India. A “Garage Mahal” (also lowercase as “garage mahal”) is an elaborate parking structure; the parking garages at Texas Tech in Lubbock and Baylor University in Waco have both been dubbed “garage mahals” by students. The term possibly originated in race car lingo (cited from at least 1992), where a “garage mahal” meant a garage that’s well stocked with tools and supplies.
 
Houston’s ArtCar Museum, opened in 1998, contains art cars and is popularly nicknamed “Garage Mahal.”
     
   
Wikipedia: ArtCar Museum
The ArtCar Museum is a private museum of contemporary art located in Houston, Texas, USA. The museum, nicknamed the “Garage Mahal,” opened in February, 1998. Its emphasis is on art cars, fine arts, and artists that are rarely seen in other cultural institutions. The museum’s mission is to elevate awareness of the political, economic, and personal dimensions of art.
 
The museum was founded by Ann Harithas, artist and long-time supporter of the Art Car movement, and James Harithas, former director of the Corcoran Museum, Washington, D.C., the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and current director of the Station Museum, Houston, Texas.
 
The museum showroom celebrates the spirit of this post-modern age of car-culture, in which artists have remolded stock cars to the specifications of their own idiosyncratic images and visions. The museum features elaborate art cars, lowriders, and mobile contraptions, as well as exhibitions by local, national, and international artists.
 
It is located at 140 Heights Blvd, Houston, TX 77007.
 
Wikipedia: Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
 
The Taj Mahal (also “the Taj”) is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”
 
While the white domed marble and tile mausoleum is most familiar, Taj Mahal is an integrated symmetric complex of structures that was completed around 1648. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer of the Taj Mahal.
 
Word Spy
Garage Mahal (guh.RAZH muh.hawl) n. A large or opulent garage or parking structure. Also: garage mahal, garage-mahal.
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Earliest Citation:
From here, a dream shop takes form with tools that either physical space or your back pocket couldn’t afford at an earlier date. This may include tools such as a bead blaster and parts cleaner or expensive fixtures like a tire machine and diagnostic scope. If you lust over a lathe, drill press, or other precise machining tools, go for it! And of course, having plenty of supplies on hand is also a convenience that will save frustration during late-night thrashes. This includes gaskets, paints, solvents, cleaning supplies, and an assortment of silicone sealants. Add these things to the tools and ideas we covered in the first two parts of this story along with a large space to work in and you, too, can have your own version of the Garage Mahal!
—Cole Quinnell, “Build a dream shop: hot rod heaven,” Hot Rod, December 1992
 
Notes:
The nickname Garage Mahal (a nicely juxtapositional play on India’s opulent Taj Mahal) shows up quite a bit in car racing and hot rod circles, where it refers to a large garage that is well-stocked with tools, parts, and supplies (see the earliest citation, below). Note, too, that the headquarters of Dale Earnhardt Inc. — named after the NASCAR driver who died a few years ago — is often called the Garage Mahal.
 
ArtCar Museum
A Brief History of the Art Car Museum
The Artcar Museum is a private institution dedicated to contemporary art. It’s an exhibition forum for local, national, and international artists. Its emphasis is on art cars, other fine arts, and artists that are rarely, if ever, acknowledged by other cultural institutions. The museum’s goal is to encourage the public in awareness of the cultural, economic, and personal dimensions of art.
 
The Artcar Museum, or “Garage Mahal” as many know it, opened in February 1998. It was founded by Ann Harithas, artist and long-time supporter of the Art Car movement, and James Harithas, former director of the Corcoran Museum, Washington, D.C., the Everson Museum, Syracuse, New York, and the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston, Texas. The Museum features the most imaginative, elaborate, and artfully constructed art cars, low riders, and mobile contraptions, as well as displaying exhibitions of art by local, national, and international artists of all media. It espouses the aesthetic that draws from the traditions of both fine and public art. The Museum has its conceptual origins in the 1984 Collision Show at the Lawndale Art Center, which saw the unveiling of Larry Fuente’s Mad Cad, which has since been featured in museums and cultural institutions across the country. As a result of the popularity of this show, art car workshops were founded in Houston, which eventually precipitated the ArtCar Parade and the Art Car movement as we know it today.
 
Baylor Babble
garage-mahal
the massive car garage that hosts a chili’s too and a starbucks
 
Baptist Press
Discontent with Sloan’s vision for Baylor aired during forum
Posted on Jul 21, 2003 | by Gregory Tomlin
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One block west of Baylor’s Ferrell Athletic Center where the dialogue between the alumni and administration of the university was held, a new university science center is under construction to the tune of $103 million. Further down is a building dubbed “the garage mahal” by students and faculty, a $15 million parking facility complete with steeples and windows.
     
Lubbock Online
Story last updated at 5:07 a.m. Saturday, October 11, 2003
Alumni of all ages have role to play in ensuring Tech’s continued success
by Jim Douglass
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In the past few years, Tech has added several new structures such as the beautiful Education/English/Philosophy complex, the United Spirit Arena, the Frazier Alumni Pavilion and the Jerry Rawls Red Raider Golf Course.
 
Even the new parking facility (known to students as the “Garage Mahal”) is a stunning addition.
 
ABC News
Houston’s 33 Attractions for $2 or Less
Museums, Movies, Theater and Boat Tour Promise a Good Time Without Setting You Back
HOUSTON July 15, 2008 July 16, 2008 (AP)
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The Houston visitors Web site also highlights a few offbeat museums, such as The ArtCar Museum, at 140 Heights Blvd., nicknamed the “Garage Mahal.” It features “artfully constructed cars, low riders and mobile contraptions,” and is open Wednesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., free admission, http://www.artcarmuseum.com/.