Jennifer Axner
“Route 1 Paint Tube”
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I created two different designs that emphasize the artistic nature the Arts District neighborhoods. Through these design concepts, I wanted to refer to the artists (and their creative processes) that have been attracted to the new Hyattsville Arts District— as to suggest their creative processes are “splashing” color all over the neighborhoods.
Over the past several months, I have seen live painting sessions happening in the window fronts of the Hyattsville Arts District, as well as new art galleries and the Lustine Art Center, which are clearly visible from the street. There is also a funky yarn store and small urban-arts supply store in Busboys and Poets that are full of colorful products. The Brentwood Arts Exchange studios, museums and galleries are increasingly vibrant and colorful and the University of Maryland has a tremendous Art Department and art students abound.
Through my chosen imagery, I seek to refer to the growing dynamic artistic scenes in all of the surrounding neighborhoods and communicate this vibrancy in an unusual way on a large scale.
Matthew Gifford
“Let Me Ride”
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The past few years I have been fortunate enough to have become part of the arts district community. This area hosts a number of incredible artists and it has been inspiring working within this group of people, sharing ideas, advice, thoughts and stories. Living, working and playing in this area are what inspired my design. I have spent a good deal of time down on the Anacostia painting the sustainable agriculture mural at ECO, and my work day usually ended around sunset. It’s a wonderful treasure along this corridor. Representing it at sunset shows it’s true magic.
I integrated the structures of the bus into the design by using the wheel well and wheel as a headphone earpiece. As the woman is taking in all that is great about this area, her hair is transformed into the landscape where the community lives, works, and plays. The bus zipper at the rear doors gives the illusion the wrap is being zipped onto the plain white bus. Also, the zipper teeth and tabs are made up of buses. The mix cassette tape in the front window where the marque is located advances the musical theme that permeates the piece. The tape is unraveling and twisting into the word “ride.” The turtle is hanging out of the window, like a dog would. It’s an interesting juxtaposition having the turtle coming from inside the bus out into its own environment.
I draw inspiration in my surroundings. Music, people, food, art, color, poetry and nature…… I like to find myself lost in the right side of my brain. The world seems to make sense when I’m here. There are no limits, I can push reality and its absolute freedom. Finding the balance with in the two world is where my art really comes to life. I use art to tell stories about place, hope, growth, community and the human condition. Hopefully my work will somehow inspire those that come in contact with it.
Boshwell Talavera
“Everything in One Place”
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Having lived in Laurel for a couple of years familiarized me with all the different places along the Route 1 Corridor (which is probably why I didn’t want to single out any one place). I thought about all the things I used to do on route 1; I frequented its many restaurants, especially Tara Thai; the many trips to UMCP because my wife is an alumni; buying furniture from the conveniently placed IKEA, et al. I started to realize that the big picture of Route 1 consists of its many fine details: all the things you can do along that particular corridor.
Since I started my career, I have always wanted to create a photomosaic; a large picture consisting of many smaller pictures. As you can imagine, not many clients are interested let alone be a good fit for this kind of design. I then realized it would be perfect for a bus wrap. Buses get a lot of exposure from people viewing from a great distance to people seeing it up close at the bus stop. I feel this adds an extra dimension to the design, enabling a photomosaic to work at its full potential. I then took a personal day to re-familiarize myself with Route 1, taking lots of pictures of all the different communities until my memory card ran out of space. The pictures were then “stitched” together to depict a Route 1 sign beside a waving Maryland flag.