| It’s an RV, it’s a studio and it’s a place of discovery. CAMPER (Contemporary Art Mobile Public Exhibition Rig) is Truck Gallery’s answer to breaking out of its established artist-run centre and rolling creativity out to the public.
CAMPER is a modified 1975 Dodge Empress motor home that first hit the road in 2005. Throughout the months of August and September, it will be bringing recreation and arts education to Calgarians through the Patch Project.
"This summer and fall, Truck, through its CAMPER, wants the citizens and visitors of Calgary to learn something about the art world," says Katherine Thompson, director of Truck Gallery. "The Patch Project has been specifically designed by Truck Gallery to further this interaction."
She adds, "workshop participants will be rewarded for their involvement in each workshop with an editioned patch, designed by the artist to commemorate their participation."
Thompson says the first patches were collected by approximately 150 participants who turned up at CAMPER’s steps to find out why a motor home was parked in the middle of the Afrikadey Festival.
"All the workshops are free, as Truck wants them to be accessible to everyone," says Thompson. "Truck also chose festivals that would allow us to access an audience that may not normally come to art galleries or maybe who were not yet aware of the great work and exhibitions of the artist-run centres in Calgary."
On September 3, Truck Gallery will once again re-fuel CAMPER and head down the road to the Calgary Tattoo & Arts Festival, which takes place at The Roundup Centre.
At this popular event, ink-seeking Calgarians will have the opportunity to learn all about the Paper Bag Tribal Tattoo Suit from artist Terence Houle. From the Blood Tribe (Kanai Nation), Houle was the 2006 recipient of the Enbridge Emerging Artist Award at Calgary’s Mayor’s Luncheon for Business and the Arts.
His workshop will allow participants to customize Paper Bag Indian Tribal Suits out of paper bags, glue, paint, markers and glitter with their very own Tribal Tattoo designs. Traditionally, the designs would be tattooed on the face or chest area to distinguish what tribe or group the individual belonged to.
After that, CAMPER will also make appearances at the Artcity Festival on September 8 and at the Calgary International Film Festival on September 27 before returning to home base for a tune-up.
"CAMPER will take a well-earned rest over the winter, and Truck will take stock of the successes, looking at how we can improve even further on how CAMPER was able to engage artists and their contemporary art practices with a large number of the general public and vice-versa in Calgary," says Thompson. "We intend on bringing CAMPER back out in mid-late spring and there will be projects throughout the summer of 2007 where artists and the general public interact with each other. We are looking into the possibility of doing CAMPER projects with disadvantaged groups and will be working hard over the late fall and winter of 2006 to further this intention."
For more information about CAMPER and how to earn your own patch, go to
www.truck.ca or visit Truck Gallery, located at 815- 1st Street S.W., in the lower level of the Grain Exchange Building. |
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