DART Car (Driven Artists Racing Team) Debuts as Female-Led Racing Team, co-founded by Miamians Zoë Barry, Spring McManus, and Aurora Straus

Zoë Barry, Aurora Straus, Spring McManus, Mickalene Thomas, Photo by Joya Films

Entrepreneur Zoë Barry, art advisor Spring McManus, and award-winning professional racecar driver Aurora Straus announce the launch of their new initiative Driven Artists Racing Team (DART Car), a female-led, mission-driven professional motorsports team with the purpose of elevating the achievements of women in the traditionally male-dominated fields of motorcars and fine art. Debuting in North America this Spring with a McLaren Artura GT4 racecar, DART Car launches with an inaugural commission by acclaimed contemporary artist Mickalene Thomas, who has created a custom wrap for the racecar as well bespoke driving suits and hand-painted helmets for Straus and Barry, who is making her professional debut this season. The DART Car racecar will be officially unveiled at the Classic Car Club Manhattan on Tuesday, February 18. DART Car’s first race of the 2024 season is the SRO GT4 America at Sonoma Raceway from March 28-30, 2025, and the team plans to finish the year in January 2026 at the 24H Series Middle East Trophy in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as the first all-female-led team in the series.

Aurora Straus & Zoe Barry (L - R)

Female athletes account for only 4% of drivers in the top categories of motorsport, which until recently was a mere 1.5%. Furthermore, art works created by female artists accounts for only 3.3% of global auction sales according to the 2022 Burns Halperin report. Inspired by the legacy of the BMW Art Car, a company for which Straus has served as a Brand Ambassador, DART Car is the first initiative of its kind in motorsports to partner with contemporary female artists and women motorsport competitors to design and race high-performance art cars in the world’s most prestigious auto events. These unique collaborations anchor DART Car’s advocacy program, which strives to elevate women’s accomplishments in motorsports and fund an annual commissioning programing with the world’s leading female artists.

McLaren Artura GT4 designed by Mickalene Thomas for DART Car

“The mission of DART Car is to create positive change and was co-founded with the idea of commissioning work from female artists for racecars driven by female pilots,” said Zoë Barry. “Together, artists and athletes can help elevate each other and shift the dollars to underrepresented, yet amazingly talented, women. I am incredibly excited to work with Spring and Aurora, both of whom are experts in their respective fields of art and motorsports and partnering with Mickalene Thomas is a true ‘pinch me’ moment. I simply cannot wait to race the first-ever Mickalene Thomas x McLaren Artura....this racecar is making history!”

McLaren Artura GT4 designed by Mickalene Thomas for DART Car

“Both art and racing are close to my heart. As a veteran female driver, I am all too used to being the only woman in the room, and despite the push for diversity these last few years, we have so much further to go as an industry. We have purposefully chosen hyper-competitive, co-ed racing series to prove that women can compete against men on equal footing. And to the (few, but vocal) people in the racing industry who still say we shouldn’t be there – we’re looking forward to proving you wrong this year!” said Aurora Straus.

McLaren Artura GT4 designed by Mickalene Thomas for DART Car

“DART Car brings art and sport together to inspire and empower women everywhere to chase their dreams and race towards their ambitions. Mickalene Thomas is one of the most exciting contemporary artists of our time. She is a

fierce role model who is redefining the way women are seen across the world. DART car will not only become a point of inspiration for artists and athletes, but for women in every field who want to break barriers and set new boundaries,” said Spring McManus.

McLaren Artura GT4 designed by Mickalene Thomas for DART Car

"I’m passionate about the intersection of art and women in sports,” said Mickalene Thomas. “This collaboration with DART Car embodies the perfect union of art and feminism as a potent fusion of creativity, speed, and female

empowerment, challenging stereotypes by inspiring innovation and redefining the boundaries of power and beauty of women in the driver seat.”

Mickalene Thomas’ artwork examines ideas around femininity, race, and gender. A globally celebrated multidisciplinary artist, Thomas, who is best known for her elaborate portraits of Black women composed of rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel, has developed a signature visual language within contemporary culture. The original artwork she has created for DART Car will feature a Cubist portrait of a woman’s face, composed with bold, reflective colors, glitter, Zebra print and Benday dots, all of which symbolize the complexities of femininity within her oeuvre.

DART Car is proud to debut with support from a variety of sponsors including Commence Haircare by Brooke Shields, Sabelt North America, and P1 Motor Club.

About Driven Artists Racing Team (DART Car)

DART Car is a women-led, professional motorsports team partnering with contemporary female artists to design and race high-performance art cars in the world’s most prestigious auto events to standout at the highest levels of autosport competition. DART Car is comprised of fierce motorsport competitors and passionate advocates for female trailblazers. Together, with likeminded partners and sponsors, DART Car engages a global enthusiast audience in the excitement of autosport, while celebrating female achievement across the visual arts and athletics. For more information on DART Car, please visit www.dartcarproject.com.

About Zoë Barry

Zoë Barry is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and Mentor in Residence at Techstars. She has founded three companies, acquired by Allscripts and Fanatics, and raised over $60M. In 2022, Zoë made her semi-pro racing debut in Porsche Sprint Challenge, where she won ‘Hard Charger’ award for most cars passed. In 2023 and 2024, Zoe has consistently finished in the top 3 in the GT4 class of International GT. This year, Zoë will be making her professional racing debut.

About Spring McManus

Spring McManus is an art advisor, curator, and art historian specializing in modern and contemporary masters with twenty years of experience working as a gallerist and specialist at Christie’s. Combining a deep expertise in art history and the global art market with a network of leading collectors, galleries, corporations and institutions, Spring advises on fine art acquisitions and sales for a portfolio of established and emerging art collectors and corporations.

About Aurora Straus

Aurora Straus is an accomplished American race car driver, entrepreneur, and advocate for women in motorsports. Straus has competed in various series across IMSA, SRO, and more. She is noted for her skill behind the wheel of high-performance vehicles such as Porsche, BMW, and McLaren. Over the years, she has consistently placed among the top drivers in her class, earning podium finishes and gaining recognition as a rising star in motorsports. She recently made history as the first woman worldwide to win a race in Radical Cup North America. Straus founded "Girls With Drive," an initiative aimed at empowering young women to pursue careers in racing, engineering, and other automotive-related fields. She is currently a Founding Partner at P1 Motor Club. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and is an MBA Class of 2026 candidate at Emory’s Goizueta Business School.

About Mickalene Thomas

Mickalene Thomas is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist whose work has yielded instantly recognizable and widely celebrated aesthetic languages within contemporary visual culture. She is known for her elaborate portraits of Black women composed of rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel. Not only do her masterful mixed-media paintings, photographs, films and installations command space, they occupy eloquently while dissecting the intersecting complexities of black and female identity within the Western canon. Outside of her core practice, Thomas is a Tony Award nominated co-producer, curator, educator, and mentor to many emerging artists. In May 2024, the touring exhibition Mickalene Thomas: All About Love opened at The Broad. Co-organized by the Hayward Gallery, London and The Broad and in partnership with the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Mickalene Thomas: All About Love is the first major international tour of Thomas’ work. The show marked its debut at The Broad with over 80 works by the artist over the last 20 years. For more information, visit mickalene.herokuapp.com.

By ML Staff. Images courtesy of DART Car