Salmon Arm Art Gallery presents “Rolling Stock,” a photography installation featuring eye-catching graffiti on train cars.
This exhibition was built on an open call to anyone across Canada who could capture a passing train and the graffiti artwork that made them stop and look.
Images have come mostly from B.C., but some have arrived from Saskatchewan and Ontario.
Graffiti has been considered an art form intermittently over the last 3,000 years.
Since the rise of commerce, it has mainly been classified as vandalism since most acts of graffiti are upon privately-owned walls.
“Train graffiti is similar in that the railcars are the private property of the railway corporation, but what makes it unique is that it travels, giving people across the country the exact same publicly-curated exhibition,” says art gallery curator Tracey Kutschker. “Whether you’re on a beach, in a field or looking out an office building window, seeing the rolling art gallery go by can offer a momentary thrill.”
Railcar graffiti has its own fascinating history, and the Salmon Arm Art Gallery offers an opportunity to examine this guerrilla art form.
The exhibition opens at 7 p.m. Friday, July 21 with live music and refreshments and runs to Aug. 26.
Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Coffee Break and Curator’s Talk is on Thursday, Aug. 17 from 2 to 4 p.m. ATC Trader Tuesday happens on Tuesday, Aug. 8 from 3 to 4 p.m.
Family Saturdays, a drop-in art-making program for families with children of all ages, continues each Saturday throughout the exhibition from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Find the art gallery on Facebook at Salmon Arm Arts Centre, or check the website at salmonarmartscentre.ca.
