Cross-country ‘art-cycling’ stops Saturday in Lawrence
Want to see the art in this gallery? You’d better be ready to move.
Sarah Sandman and Melissa Small of Rhode Island are bicycling across the country with art in tow, spreading it from community to community like pollinators.
The idea is simple: They’ll stop in 12 towns in a cross-country biking expedition, pausing at each to collect artwork. They’ll then deliver that artwork to artists at the next town, who will, in turn, give them more art to share.
The traveling festivities come to Lawrence on Saturday, when Sandman and Small arrive bearing gifts from St. Louis. They’ll accept works from local artists to take to Breckenridge, Colo.
The event is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Dotdotdot Artspace, 1910 Haskell Ave.
Molly Murphy, who is helping to organize the local event, isn’t sure how many Lawrence artists will participate. But she anticipates the women’s load might be pretty heavy when they leave.
“We’re not entirely sure, but we might have more than other cities,” Murphy says.
Sandman, a former Lawrence resident, and Small are traveling on a side-by-side recumbent bike that has a storage area.
Even so, the traveling art-gatherers will collect only unframed two-dimensional art that is 24-by-36 inches in size or smaller. Anyone can participate.
The women started in late May in Providence, R.I., and expect to end Aug. 30 in Seattle. More information about the tour can be found at www.giftcycle.org.
“I really like (the idea),” Murphy says. “I just think it’s an interesting way to show this no-emission tour of getting things from one place to another and not really using any money to move things through the system.”