Get on Board an Art Bus
MEDIA RELEASE
September 25, 2024
For immediate release
(Calgary AB) – Calgary Arts Development is thrilled to be bringing art into a variety of areas and communities in our city through Art Bus, a public art project that commissioned seven local artists to use public transit buses as their canvas for new original artworks. The seven Art Buses will be in service for 12 weeks starting the last week of September. In addition to the exterior bus wrapping, panels on the inside of each bus will share a statement from the artist and show some of their pre-existing artworks.
“The artworks on these buses are extraordinary,” says Calgary Arts Development President and CEO Patti Pon. “Not only does this project provide opportunities for artists of all levels to share their artworks and stories with Calgarians, it also brings public art into areas of our city that may not historically have as much public art. We are delighted to bring colour, whimsy, joy and beauty to pedestrians, bus riders and drivers throughout our city.”
For this project, artists were required to make an original artwork in response to one of the listed themes that consider the multiple contexts of Calgary/Mohkinsstsis and the communities the buses will connect with. The seven artists selected for this project are:
Katie Green, Lyndon Navalta, Michelle Ku, Natalia Ionescu, Paityn Savoie / WÂPOSHPYII, Phoebe Riel and Rawry & Pohly.
MEDIA OPPORTUNITY
The public is invited to celebrate the official launch of Art Bus on Thursday, October 3 from 11am to 1pm. All seven buses will be parked on Stephen Avenue between Macleod Trail SE and First Street SE (adjacent to Arts Commons). Learn more about the project, see the buses inside and out, meet some of the artists and enjoy some snacks. Interviews with project leads and artists will be available.
Schedule:
11am — Opportunity to interview the artists and see the buses inside and out
11:45am — Remarks by Calgary Arts Development
12 noon — Snacks available
Visit our website to learn more about the project and the artists.
About Calgary Arts Development
As the city’s designated arts development authority, Calgary Arts Development supports and strengthens the arts to benefit all Calgarians. We invest and allocate municipal funding for the arts provided by The City of Calgary and leverage these funds to provide additional resources to the arts sector. Our programs support hundreds of arts organizations, individual artists, artist collectives, and ad hoc groups in Calgary.
calgaryartsdevelopment.com
We acknowledge that the land we gather on, Mohkinsstsis, is the ancestral territory of the Siksikaitsitapi — the Blackfoot people — comprising the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina Nation and the Îyârhe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations. Today this land is home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government Districts 5 and 6 as well as many First Nations and Inuit from across Turtle Island. We acknowledge that there has been art, music, dance, storytelling and ceremony on this land since time immemorial and it is in the spirit of this land and its people that we do our work.
-30-
Further Information
Helen Moore-Parkhouse
Director, Communications, Calgary Arts Development
Phone: (office) 403.264.5330 ext. 102; (mobile) 587.227.0150
Email: helen.moore-parkhouse@calgaryartsdevelopment.com
