Art on a Bus!?

The Idea

Our town hosts an annual Art Walk the first weekend in May.  A group of teachers along with the support of the community came up with the idea of an art bus for this event because we wanted the art walk to include something unique – something that had never been done before!

The Art Bus is a vehicle (literally!) to display students’ artwork from elementary to high school!  People board the bus at the front and then walk through the gallery of artwork and exit towards the rear.  As people walk through the bus they can see how the students’ skill level advances from year to year.

Organizing the Event

The elementary, middle school (that’s me), and high school art teachers, along with the private school’s art teacher got together a month or so before this event to make sure all of our ducks were in a row.  We called to get the bus reserved and also divided this event into shifts.  During the event, there was always an art teacher close by to answer any questions about the bus display or the students’ artwork.

Set Up

So, how’d we do it?  Setting up the bus was easy.  We tried to show a variety of artwork from throughout the school year, including both 2D & 3D artwork.  Wooden boards were placed on top of the bus seats to convert into display tables.  To display my students’ pottery work I tipped some bowls of various sizes upside down and covered them with a few yards of black fabric.  This created various heights and a professional touch to help showcase my students’ 3D pottery.

The Funding

One problem was how to fund this bus. Between the cost of the mileage and paying a driver to bring the bus to the site, it wasn’t expensive, about $40, but we still needed to find a way to fund it.

We came up with the solution of asking local banks if they would be willing to sponsor the Art Bus!

First National Bank in town sponsored the bus.  We advertised the Art Walk event by putting together a display case at the bank, which helped to spread the word about both the Art Bus and their support. The bank then provided us with a fantastic banner to put on the Art Bus during the Art Walk to advertise their business and sponsorship. It was a huge win-win for all parties involved!

Reactions

This year was the third year that the art teachers teamed up to present the Art Bus.  Every year we make tweaks and changes.  The reason we keep doing it year after year is the positive reaction that we get from people both at the event and the following week at school.  It makes my Monday when a student proudly exclaims that they saw their artwork displayed on the Art Bus!

Check out more details about this event right here.

Transforming a school bus into a temporary art gallery is a creative way to help set the students’ art apart!

 What is the most unique and unusual way you have ever displayed student art?

Chelsie teaches middle school art, loves using technology in her 1:1 iPad School, and is one of the new members of the AOE Team. Learn more about all of our writers, including Chelsie, on the About Page.