On Sunday, Rolling Views: Art Bus Lethbridge rolls out with a partnership between the Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge, the City of Lethbridge Public Art Program, and Lethbridge Transit.
It’s a new public art initiative that has transformed two city buses into moving works of art.
Designed by local artists Kellen Spencer and Gillian Goerz, the buses feature striking exterior vinyl wraps that bring creativity into everyday spaces across Lethbridge.
Selected through a competitive process last year, the artists were commissioned to develop original, large-scale designs that reflect the vibrancy, diversity, and character of the community.
Now complete, the wrapped buses will circulate on regular transit routes for approximately one year, expanding access to public art and creating moments of visual interest throughout the city.
Rolling Views is a pilot project that reimagines how public art can be experienced.
To celebrate Jane’s Walk, the AAC and Lethbridge Transit are hosting Jane’s Ride: Art Bus Tours on May 3 at the City Centre Terminal.
These guided tours will offer riders the opportunity to experience the buses and visit a selection of public art sites across the city.
AAC Public Art Coordinator Katie Wilde said this is an exciting, combined event. “It’s our official launch of the pilot project.”
The artists, Wilde noted, will be on-site downtown delivering talks about their work and how they came up with it.
“After that, we get to ride the buses on two unique tours of other public art that’s a little more far-flung places that are a little hard to include on a walking tour. But a lot of people want to take part in the Jane’s Walk Festival. Not everybody can walk for a long time, so this is also a different opportunity to participate in the festival,” Wilde explained.
According to Wilde, the Jane’s Walk Festival is an annual celebration of communities with free community-led walks to help people get to know their community better. “The AAC always runs one on public art. This year, we thought it would be fun to ride some art around town and see more public art in different areas of the city.”
“These are places that are difficult to include on walking tours just by nature of where they’re located, so a bus tour was perfect to show them off,” Wilde added.
Wilde said even though the bus tours are full, the artist talk portions are not on a bus.
“They’re actually just in front of the bus at the station,” Wilde noted. “I still encourage everybody to come out and meet the artists and hear what they have to say about their designs. If there’s room on the bus, there’s always a wait list.”
The buses will leave the downtown centre at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
You’re encouraged to keep an eye out for the buses in the wild, snap photos, and share your sightings online using #ArtBusYQL and #LethbridgePublicArt to join the celebration.
For more information about each community tour, please visit the Jane’s Walk website.
