No, it’s not another food truck, but you may have caught a glimpse of it already, maybe at the Tuesday Montclair Farmers Market in Montclair Center?
Montclair Art Museum is dishing out art to the community with The MAM Art Truck. The truck rolls out officially on July 4, at Montclair’s July 4th Parade. (Here’s a schedule of where to find the MAM art Truck).
The truck is a mobile open studio, housed in a retrofitted ice cream truck, that offers free art projects and lessons to MAM’s community. MAM hopes the sight of the cheery truck tooling around town will also raise visibility for the Museum and its Yard School of Art in surrounding towns while feeding creativity in underserved communities and audiences.
“No museum or arts organization in our geographic area offers a comparable outreach project. We’re excited at the ability to bring art-making anywhere to anyone and hope that the community will in turn see the Museum as an accessible and welcoming resource,” said MAM Director Lora Urbanelli.
Artist Dan Fenelon and MAM educator Peg Kenselaar will drive the truck in the Montclair 4th of July parade and then lead its first art project during the picnic afterward. The project will be family friendly and free. Additional venues are being booked and include the Montclair Jazz Festival (August 16), Meet Me in Morristown (last Thursdays in July, August, and September), and the Feast of St. Sebastian in Montclair (August 20–24). The MAM Art Truck will also make regular weekday appearances at senior centers including Canterbury at Cedar Grove, Crane’s Mill (West Caldwell), Emeritus (West Orange), Passaic Senior Center, and Cedar Crest (Pompton Plains), as well as at community pools in Montclair, Summit, and South Orange.
Follow the MAM art truck on social media with the hashtag #MAMarttruck and look for the launch of a detailed location schedule on MAM’s website, montclairartmuseum.org, later this summer.
If you are interested in having the MAM Art Truck at your event, contact arttruck@montclairartmuseum.org
The Art Truck is sponsored by the Partners for Health Foundation. Additional generous support provided by Tracy and Jim Leitner, Friends of the Make it Happen Fund, and The Montclair Foundation.