Arlington Art Truck
The Arlington Art Truck, designed by Fulbright-scholar Stephen Powers, delivers interactive art projects to where you live, work, and play!
The Arlington Art Truck delivers cultural experiences to where you live, work and play and gives you a chance to engage with County and nonprofit initiatives in Arlington in a unique, fun way!
During the Art Truck season, curated by Arlington Arts, artists-in-residence pack the van with projects ranging from interactive sculptures, installations, performances and more. Each project is paired with a County or community partner so visitors can create or activate artworks as well as learn more about County and community resources. From the farmer's market to the football field, look for the Arlington Art Truck... it'll be where you least expect it!
2018 Activations
Arlington Abstracted by Marc Pekala
Artist Mark Pekala reimagined iconic Arlington business signs in his signature abstracted graffiti aesthetic. The signs were then broken into small pieces and participants rearranged them to create a colorful abstract artwork of their own. One of these designs will be selected to become the new ground mural in Spring 2019 in the Pop-Up park at 2100 Clarendon Blvd.
Community Partner: Inspection Services Division, Arlington County. Want to renovate your home or add on a deck? Talk to inspection services at these Arlington Art Truck activations!
More about the project
About Marc Pekala
You Are Magic by Alicia Eggert
You Are Magic is a large-scale, interactive inflatable sculpture that activates when two people holding hands touch the handprint kiosks bringing the sculpture to life evoking wonder and the power of collaboration. But, as soon as they release their hands the circuit is broken, and the sculpture deflates into a crumpled piled of fabric on the ground.
Community Partner: Volunteer Arlington connects individuals, groups, nonprofits and businesses in an effort to promote volunteerism.
Color Your Future Garden by Marcella Kriebel
Marcella provided five different black line illustrations that you can choose to watercolor in your own way: a seed planting chart with an illustration of vegetables in one of the four seasons, or a map of the Arlington Community Gardens.
Community Partners: Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) with the Plot Against Hunger program. During the activations, visitors could grab some seeds to “Grow a Row” for Arlington Food Assistance or grab a plant and learn to grow edibles indoors.
Going Native: Flora and Fauna of Arlington, Virginia by Kate Samworth
Going Native: Flora and Fauna of Arlington, Virginia created and illustrated by artist Kate Samworth, is a folding, pocket-sized manual of some of Arlington’s native plant, mammal, and insect species of Arlington. Using her artwork as a reference, participants recreated the shapes and patterns found on selected species of plants, insects, and butterflies by using collage, watercolor and drawing.
Community partner: Plant NOVA Natives, is the joint marketing campaign of a grand coalition of non-profit, governmental, and private groups, all working to reverse the decline of native plants and wildlife in Northern Virginia. During activations, participants could learn more about how to identify and protect native species in their own backyards.
Bipedal Soundscapes by Alex Braden and Emily Francisco
Bipedal Sounscapes created by DC area artists Emily Francisco and Alex Braden let participants power a five-tiered turntable housing vinyl records creating their own unique audio experience. Visitors controlled the speed of the turntables by pedaling on the stationary bicycle, allowing riders to dictate the way the piece is experienced.
Community partners: Phoenix Bikes and BikeArlington Phoenix Bikes’ nonprofit youth bike education program and their upcoming new space on Columbia Pike at the Arlington Mill Community Center. BikeArlington is Arlington County’s bike education and encouragement program.
Upcoming Events
The 2018 Arlington Art Truck season has ended. Check back for our 2019 Activations coming soon!
Some of the places we went this year: Crosshairs Garage Races, Westover Farmer's Market, Arlington Palooza, Taste of Arlington, Clarendon Metro, Big Truck Day, Columbia Pike Blues Fest, Arlington County Fair, Pentagon City Mall, Arlington Public Schools, and more! Click here for the full 2018 Arlington Art Truck Season Schedule.
Behind The Art Truck Design
The Arlington Art Truck's exterior has colorful and witty illustrations hand painted by internationally renowned artist Stephen Powers. Stephen worked alongside Arlington Art Truck curator Cynthia Connolly to create a "parade of usual and unusual art supplies" including Cynthia's saddle shoes and Leica camera as a nod to their collaboration. Paying homage to his start as a graffiti artist and tagger, the blank side of the Truck outlined in dotted lines will feature magnetic interchangeable letters in his signature style. About the Artist
This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To learn more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.
