The FACES & VOICES Art-Mobile

ArtSpace’s “Faces & Voices” Art-Mobile Exhibition is embarking on its two-month odyssey, and will have a scheduled viewing opportunity on November 3, 2020. “Faces & Voices” will be at ArtSpace Maynard, 63 Summer Street, Maynard, MA, 9:00-11:00 AM on Election Day, after which it will travel throughout the region until the polls close at 8:00 PM.

October 22, 2020, Maynard, Massachusetts — ArtSpace Maynard is building on its creative response to these challenging times, amplifying anti-racism, social justice, issues of identity, and awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impact on people of color.

“The public artwork created by George Herman and Amanda Loebelenz brings a powerful aesthetic message to the community at a time of extreme crisis and much needed change. The arts have a long history of responding to issues in ways that bring unity, healing, and activism to fight for people’s freedoms. This art-mobile will become a catalyst for dialogue exploring matters of racism, social justice, racial equity, civic engagement and economic rights,” said ArtSpace Executive Director Jerry Beck.

The Faces & Voices art-mobile transforms a 1952 Ford pick-up truck and an 8’ high x 16’ long x 7’ wide enclosed trailer into a traveling gallery. On the exterior, George Herman’s piece, “Transit/and Other,” showcases his powerful, abstracted portraits of unnamed people who appear caught in transition — between dream and reality, passivity and intensity, sanity and torment — not unlike today’s society coping with the coronavirus and racial injustice.

NOTE: Herman will be using his Instagram account, george.herman.1948, to document the voyage of the art-mobile as it travels throughout Massachusetts.

On the interior of the gallery, Amanda Loebelenz showcases her work, “VOICE,” a multi-media, interactive installation inspired by poignant conversations with people of color and people outside of that community. The uncensored voices of racial minorities combine to create the content of this piece. It provides a platform and opportunity for people to talk and share their voice with a wide audience. Loebelenz believes that an important first step in ending racism is identifying exactly what it looks like through the direct thoughts, experiences, and stories of people who face racial discrimination. In this way, she believes the greater community can be educated through the unbiased voices of their friends, neighbors, peers, and colleagues who face the struggles of social and systemic racism every day.

Loebelenz states, “Growing up, I had never been educated on the full extent of what racism looks like or how it materializes in society. I learned through people who were close to me when I got older, who felt comfortable enough to share with me what they go through, whether it was big, small, social, or  systematic, in terms of racial discrimination. That prompted me to further educate myself on these issues and become an activist. My hope is that this art project can enlighten people and have the same effect on them that my education had on me.”

“This traveling, interactive public art project is determined to showcase the beautiful diversity of ethnicity and the hope to end this country’s systemic racism,” said Jerry Beck.

The traveling gallery will be on view November 3, 2020, from 9:00-11:00 AM at ArtSpace Maynard, located at 63 Summer Street in Maynard, Massachusetts. To schedule a showing or to inquire about having the Art-Mobile visit your neighborhood or region, please contact Jerry Beck at jerryartspace@gmail.com or +1 978-590-3759.