Today I made one last trip to the old APCO station in Cogar, Oklahoma, and left the final Forgotten Main Street Free Art Drop at the place where this little experiment found its home.
Cogar has always been exactly the kind of place Forgotten Main Street was created to celebrate.
An old gas station. A quiet Oklahoma backroad. A place thousands of people have probably driven past without ever knowing the stories connected to it.
But if you slow down, get out of the car, and really look, places like Cogar have a way of pulling you in.
That is what Forgotten Main Street has always been about.
The Free Art Drop became another way to share that idea.
Instead of simply posting a photograph online, I could print one, leave it somewhere along the road, and let somebody else discover it.
Take it. Keep it. Share it.
No purchase. No contest. No catch.
Just a photograph waiting to be found.
Over time, the old APCO station became the unofficial home of the project. I loved watching people follow the clues, make the drive to Cogar, photograph the station themselves, and search for the hidden print.
For a project about forgotten places, there was something pretty wonderful about seeing people deliberately go looking for one.
Cogar Was the Beginning, Not the End
Today’s drop closes the Cogar chapter, but it definitely does not end the Free Art Drop project.
I’m going to choose another location closer to the Oklahoma City metro area and continue making drops here in Oklahoma.
At the same time, Peep will be doing his own Free Art Drops around Bellingham, Washington.
I think that opens up a lot of fun possibilities for the project.
And the next time Peep and I hit the road together for a Forgotten Main Street adventure, I want us to start creating Art Drops on the spot as we travel.
Find a great place. Make a photograph. Create a drop. Leave a little piece of the journey behind for someone else to discover.
That feels very FMS to me.
A Slightly Different Road for a While
There’s another reason I’m keeping my Oklahoma drops a little closer to home.
My health continues to be very challenging, and I begin a new chemotherapy plan next week.
For now, I need to be more deliberate about where I spend my time and energy. I’m prioritizing my health, my family, and a small number of photography projects that really matter to me.
Forgotten Main Street is one of them.
The trips may be shorter. The pace may be slower. Sometimes the camera may have to stay home.
But the reason Peep and I started Forgotten Main Street hasn’t changed.
There are still small towns worth exploring, old buildings worth noticing, people with stories worth hearing, and forgotten stretches of road that deserve somebody to pull over and pay attention.
So we’re going to keep doing exactly that.
Thank You, Cogar
To everyone who followed a clue, drove out to Cogar, found a print, shared a photograph, or simply enjoyed watching the hunt online — thank you.
That old APCO station was the perfect place to begin.
Now the Free Art Drops are spreading out a little — Oklahoma City, Bellingham, and eventually wherever the next Forgotten Main Street road takes us.
Keep watching.
There are plenty more photographs to make, roads to roam, and pieces of art to leave behind.
Roam • Focus • Share
— Dixie
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