- Now we are really talking up our interns in this episode.
Why?
Because they deserve it.
- A mobile art gallery is the topic
of our next intern produced segment.
- Here a super cool converted box trucK
travels around Denver with some really neat ideas
about creating and selling art.
- Avery Wolahan worked on this story
during a recent summer internship.
(upbeat drumming)
- I like to keep it street.
I could really shine this up and get all jazzy
but people, they see this art,
they equivocate it with street art.
So, why not kinda just be part of the streets 17 00:00:38,171 --> 00:00:38,006 when you're out there?
(upbeat drumming)
MAG is an acronym for Mobile Art Gallery.
It's a '79 Chevy step van.
What we do with the MAG is we get up every week
and we find a different spot in Denver
to go to display and show artwork.
When there's a will there's a way.
I'm not a big fan of the gallery model.
It's there, it exists for a reason.
But I didn't feel like I was there yet as an artist
but I still wanted the ability
for the general public to see my work.
And, you know, when an idea hits you
it just hits you from every angle.
And when all a the pieces kind of presented themself to me
it just made perfect sense.
I'm letting people pay anything for these,
anything they want, make me an offer.
The '70s and '80s graffiti was really big.
And I went around and took photos of a lot of graffiti.
I used to copy a lot a graffiti from other artists
and people started calling me a forger.
And, so, I ended up tagging Forge,
I just said, I'm gonna own that.
Everything you see black here
is gonna be silk screened over it,
so, Neil Degrasse will peer in there.
And then I'm gonna play with the word, science
and drop that on him.
So, he's gonna be saying: Science!
I grew up in New York City.
I grew up walking around billboards
you know, that are eight, 10 stories tall
and advertising everywhere you looked.
You know, these icons are so ingrained in our culture,
Popeye, Mighty Mouse.
When you decide to take those images
and put them into an art piece it's considered pop art.
And pop art is popular art, popular culture.
So, I'm really a pop artist and I'm okay with that.
Hiroshima is the name of this piece.
The clock in the background is the clock
that stopped at 8:17,
which was the time that the bomb landed,
all electronics ceased to function.
Not only am I an artist and an activist
I came up with the term: Artivist.
I use art to motivate people, inspire people,
get them to recognize issues, get them to take action.
Case in point, Standing Rock.
So, I did this in support of Standing Rock
because Sitting Bull does have a posse.
And it was all the people that showed up at Standing Rock
to block the pipeline and the No DAPL movement.
And I worked on it with Taos Pueblo students
and other students in the Taos area.
And we screen printed these banners, T-shirts
and art and they ended up going up to standing rock.
And these are actual Native American teenagers
holding up the art that the teenagers
in New Mexico did in support of them.
And if I never do anything else in my whole career
I think this is the most significant thing I've ever done.
People appreciate art
but the same person that might appreciate art
might not ever set foot into a gallery.
I think people kind of really like the fact
that I'm bringing the art to them
rather than waiting for them to come in.
I find a sense of kind of wonder
that people have when they come in.
I can feel them feeling like they're in a unique situation.
And it slows them down
and it allows them to kinda take it all in.
And I've tried to turn it around and say:
How would I feel if I just walked into this?
Wow, these guys did this and they did it really well.
And I'm enjoying art.
But I'm not at a gallery and I'm not in a museum,
I'm just walking down the street to get a taco.
And all of a sudden I had this art experience
and I'm richer for that.
- I just love that whole story, so innovative.
- And look what we have here from Forge,
a custom piece just for PBS.