A Double Decker Bus to Become a Moving Art Gallery

Plans have been unveiled to turn a double deck service bus into a moving art gallery.

It is the idea of postgraduate student Anna Deamicis which Reading Buses is enthusiastically supporting.

Anna is producing a thesis on the Moving Gallery and together with Reading Buses is sending out an open call to all local artists who are interested in exploring the theme of public mobility and how it relates to the sense of place and community.

The closing date for ideas is October 16 and Jake Osman, Reading Buses Marketing and Communications Manager, said there was a need to encourage more local artists to apply.

“We are hoping to cover the costs of the materials that the artists will use through sponsorship so that they don’t incur any expenditure,” said Jake.

“And we have been lucky that one of our suppliers, Nimbus Journey Solutions, have agreed to sponsor the event. The Nimbus involvement reminds us that art can come in many forms, so we encourage people to think about how they could use the on-board technology for their art.

“All artists who are chosen to make and display their artwork will be promoted through the event which will be held in December.”

For a period of six weeks the double deck bus, which will be transformed into a travelling art space, the Moving Gallery, will be operational on regular routes operated by Reading Buses.

Anna’s open call has been published on http://annadeamicis.wixsite.com/movinggalleryreading illustrating all the main features of the project.

Said, Anna:

“To submit proposals, artists need to address the theme and present a short biography, a synopsis of the artworks to submit and images of the pieces or their sketches.

“Moving Gallery has a mission statement: ‘Surprising the bus passengers, strengthening the cultural identity of Reading, catch a bus, take a seat, experience art.”

She said that Moving Gallery got the financial support of Reading BID which provided a grant of £300 as part of its Christmas in Reading promotional activity.

Said, Anna:

“Using an urban bus as the privileged tool to deliver this project is not a casual pick, but it is pregnant with significance since it perfectly embodies the main theme of the project.

The bus, by its nature, represents an inclusive community, which reactivates some processes that are getting obsolete. In a society where people are encouraged to adopt an individualistic way of life, the bus implicitly asks people to share a very small place with others, to listen to their talking or to notice their moods.

“Moreover, the bus is the symbol of mobility in a place; it is the most democratic and open of the means of transport; it is based on a sense of trust on the others: the trust on the fact that the bus is going to pick ‘me’ up, on the other people inside the bus who are not going to harm ‘me’, on the bus driver who has the responsibility of many lives while driving.”

Anna is a psychologist with 17 years of experience who in 2015 took the chance to relocate in the UK and develop a new career in the creative sector as a cultural producer.

She added:

“My interest in the visual/performing arts has always been incredibly high and in 2016 I was admitted at Central Saint Martin. Moving Gallery is my final project as a post grad student and also is a means to stimulate the local arts scene.”