The "Fresh Flowers Mobile Museum" Makes Its Debut

Next time you hop on a SEPTA bus, you may just be visiting Philly's newest museum.

 

SEPTA and Fresh Artists have joined forces to bring a new museum to Philadelphia - actually, they'll be taking the museum all over Philadelphia. The "Fresh Flowers Mobile Museum" is a customized 40-foot bus that will be in service until the end of 2014. The bus is decorated inside and out, from front to back with 33 floral still life pieces, which were created and donated to Fresh Artists by students from a number of Philadelphia schools. The mobile museum will be a traveling extension of the mission of Fresh Artists, which works to provide art supplies and programs to schools that would otherwise not be able to offer art to their students.

The mobile museum was on display at the recent Philadelphia Flower Show, but unfortunately, many of the students who contributed work were not able to attend. Fresh Artists and SEPTA decided to take the display to the students, and on June 11th, the organizations took their new mobile museum to the artists' schools. The students weren't aware they would be able to view the artwork with their peers, and many of the artists were surprised to see the bus at their schools. In a post on the SEPTA blog, some of the students discussed how they felt seeing their art in public - knowing that hundreds of thousands of people will get to view their art for the next six months:

Eli Zickler, a fifth-grader at J.S. Jenks Elementary School, who admittedly hates smiling, could not help but beam with joy when he saw his Van Gogh-based piece, Sunflowers, being exhibited on the bus. "I didn't even know this was going to happen today," said the surprised student. "It feels good to know somebody cares about what I make." After he completed the train of celebratory high-fives and fist bumps from his peers, Eli stated his excitement to continue his involvement with Fresh Artists.

 

Be on the lookout for the "Fresh Flowers Mobile Museum." We're sure that with the colorful artwork, you won't be able to miss it! Thanks to Fresh Artists and SEPTA for working to spread the word on the importance of art and arts education.

The work of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance is made possible through the generous support of committed individuals and institutions.