Arlington Art Truck

2020 Activations

Upcoming Activations

DATES IN 2020 ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DUE TO THE EVOLVING CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE COVID-19 EPIDEMIC.

 

Greetings from Our Microbiome! by Shelly Smith

Tuesday, July 7 – Thursday, August 11, 2020

Due to the unprecedented impact of the pandemic, we will not be on the streets of Arlington for this activation.  It is now a social media project and virtual artist talk. 

The work of Arlington artist Shelly Smith focuses on microscopic life found in water and soil. The artist has illustrated five postcards, featuring the diversity of microorganisms found in five different bodies of water in Arlington, including a bog, vernal pool, and stream. Come examine the living creatures through a microscope, paint the postcards yourself, and then mail them to friends.

Water run-off from our yards and streets not only affects the health of our waterways but it also impacts the larger ecosystem, including trees and plants. The Office of Sustainability and Environmental Management is our community partner, and the postcards share how we can be better stewards of the natural environment by reducing stormwater runoff and pollution at home.

 

Virtual Art Activation
Tuesday, July 7th – Thursday, August 11th
Explore Arlington’s waterways with Ballston neighborhood artist Shelly Smith.   Check the Arlington Art Truck Instagram or Arlington Arts’ Instagram, Facebook or Twitter account July 7 – August 11 to sign up for free postcard packs we will mail to you. The pack will have a mix of color and black and white postcards of which you can color-in yourself and mail to your friends! 

Virtual Artist Talk
Tuesday, July 28th, 6:30-7:30 P.M.
Join us for the Greetings from Our Microbiome virtual artist presentation. The presentation will take place via Zoom and include a short Q&A. Sign up for the presentation here and we will email you a link and passcode a few days prior to the talk.

 

About Shelly Smith

 

 

Flight by Greg Stewart

Learn about the birds that migrate through our area each autumn, and those that are threatened by loss of habitat in Virginia. Artist Greg Stewart and a team of James Madison University students will be on-hand to facilitate your artmaking. You can select from a library of laser cut names of fall migrating birds, then stencil them onto the ground with sifted soil and create a bird sculpture with clay and native seeds in the shape of the threatened birds to take and plant.

Our community partner for this project is Arlington County’s Urban Forestry Office, who will offer you tips on tree care, grant opportunities for free trees and will be sharing information and collecting input from the public on their Urban Forest Master Plan and Natural Resources Management Plan revision.  The Urban Forest Master Plan addresses the conservation, planting and maintenance of trees in Arlington County, preserving a healthy ecosystem, and the Natural Resources Management Plan looks to conserve and enhance the unique ecosystems in our parks.

This project is developed in partnership with James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

About Greg Stewart

MAKE & TAKE: A sculpture in the shape of threatened birds made of native Arlington seeds and clay to plant in your own yard. Stencil the names of migrating birds on the ground. View threatened birds through a 3D View-Master.
MEET: Greg Stewart, sculptor, students from James Madison University and Arlington County’s Arborist.
LEARN: About birds and trees of Arlington County, the Urban Forest Master Plan and Natural Resources Management Plan revision.

 

Saturday, September 12, Rosslyn Jazz Fest, Gateway Park, 1300 Lee Highway , 1-7pm CANCELLED

Saturday, September 19, Green Valley Day, Drew Model Elementary School,  3500 23rd South, 12-6pm CANCELLED

Sunday, September 27, Arlington Valley Fest, 2709 S Oakland Street, 12-5pm

Friday, October 2, Latin Heritage Festival, Arlington Mill Community Center, 909 S Dinwiddie St, Arlington, VA 22204, 5-9pm

Thursday, October 15, Gunston Middle School, 2700 S Lang St, Arlington, VA 22206 (not open to public), 7:50am- 2:40pm

Tuesday, October 20, Crystal City Farmers Market, 3-7pm, location TBD, 3-7pm

Sunday, October 25, Fairlington Farmers Market, 3308 S Stafford Street, 9-1pm

Saturday, October 31, Marymount Farmers Market, 2807 N Glebe Road, 9-1pm CANCELLED

 

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2021 Activations

The Desegregation of Arlington Lunch Counters: 60^th Anniversary Tribute by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. 

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Arlington Art Truck’s first activation of the 2020 season was postponed until Spring 2021.  While the public activation has been postponed until next year, those who ride the Art on the ART Bus can continue to draw inspiration, as Amos Kennedy’s work focusing on the desegregation of Arlington’s lunch counters in 1960 will continue to be on-display well into 2021. 

 

Commemorate the lunch counter sit-ins that occurred in Arlington County as you letterpress cards with printer Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., or Arlington printmaker Justyne Fischer. The sit-ins were peaceful protests that challenged widespread segregation policies. Kennedy has designed seven cards to commemorate the sit-in protests that occurred from June 9-22, 1960. A different quote from one of the participants or community members involved in the historic protests will be available to print at each activation. To collect all seven, visit the Arlington Art Truck each week! On site will be representatives from our community partner the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington offering information about their organization. Drop-in visitors at various activations will periodically include Joan Mulholland, Arlington resident, civil rights activist, and participant in the Arlington sit-ins as well as Serena Bolliger, Arlington’s Historic Preservation program staff.

For more information on the desegregation of lunch counters in Arlington, please go here.

This project is organized by the Arlington Art Truck, Arlington Public Art, programs of Arlington Arts in collaboration with the County’s Historic Preservation Program, Arlington Public Library’s Center for Local History and Arlington Transit’s Art on the ART bus program.

Learn more about Amos Paul Kennedy Jr.

Learn more about the entire project and find a download of the Arlington Art Truck banner with the entire timeline of events.

MAKE & TAKE: A new letter-pressed card at each weekly location.  Collect all seven!
MEET: Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., Justyne Fischer, printers and a representative from the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington
LEARN: About the desegregation of Arlington’s lunch counters through seven sit-in protests that occurred from June 9-22, 1960.

 

Previous 2020 Activations

Words to Art Spring 2020
An Arlington Community Art Project by Sushmita Mazumdar

Monday, April 27th – Sunday, May 24th

Give artists ONE WORD expressing your feelings and perception of the #COVID19 quarantine and watch them transform it into art! Arlington Arts will ask you to post new words every Monday for the next four weeks. Artist Sushmita Mazumdar and four other Arlington artists will turn select words from your submissions into original sketches to be posted on our social media throughout the weekend. The finished works will be posted on Sushmita’s website, Studio Pause.

Make your own artwork expressing a word at home and post it with #WordsToArtArlington. You can also share it at home in your window, or as chalk art on the sidewalk!

This project was originally designed by Sushmita Mazumdar in 2018 for Art on the ART Bus. The 2020 version takes a new angle by asking you to collaborate.

Participating artists:
Sushmita Mazumdar (Buckingham)
David Amoroso (Douglas Park)
Maribeth Egan (Ballston/Virginia Square)
Kate Fleming (Maywood)
MasPaz (Arlington Ridge)

Virtual Artist Talk and Reception
Wednesday, June 10th, 7 P.M.
Join us in a Zoom reception and talk.  Find the invitation in Facebook.