In partnership with Forecast Public Art and with funding from the Kresge Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Smart Growth America (SGA) launched the Arts & Transportation Rapid Response initiative during the summer of 2020 right after the onset of the world’s worst pandemic in more than a generation. SGA selected five agencies in the Bay Area, CA, Oakland, CA, Las Vegas, NV, west central Minnesota, and Detroit, MI who partnered with local artists committed to addressing COVID-related transportation challenges and systemic inequities in a unique and creative way.

With tremendous support and energy for the second round of this initiative, SGA opened a call for proposals and selected the following agencies: 

• Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority—MARTA (Atlanta, GA)
• The Port Authority of Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation—QVCDC (Ware, MA)

SGA and Forecast curated three artists to partner with these agencies, who were selected through a nationwide open call for artists, conversations with local arts nonprofits and arts councils, and the review of artists’ portfolios. The selected artists included:

• Franco Bejarano for Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
• Janel Young for the Port Authority of Allegheny County
• Rochelle Schicoff for Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation

You can read the full stories also on our Scenic Route website at transportation.art.

The Arts + Transportation Rapid Response initiative was conducted in partnership with Forecast Public Art and with funding from the Kresge Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.