Artists Peter Foucault and Christopher Treggiari collaborated with SOMArts Cultural Center to develop and present the Mobile Arts Platform (MAP), a 1963 Ford Falcon van and trailer repurposed and transformed by the artists into a roaming sculpture and pop-up display space. The MAP provided a literal vehicle for curated exhibitions and collaborative, community-based art making.
During the funded period, the collaborators refined the MAP and worked together to present MAP programming at several San Francisco street festivals and two SOMArts events. MAP events presented artwork by the lead artists and other Bay Area artists, and offered opportunities for passersby to create art together–turning them from passive observers to creators.
In many of Peter Foucault’s works, the viewer plays a role in the production of the artwork. Among these, his “Drawing Projects” series of site-specific installations invite audiences to help create large abstract compositions by using their voices or bodies to activate drawing robots. Chris Treggiari’s produces large-scale mobile sculptures that are either carried on the body or towed by a vehicle.
SOMArts (South of Market Arts, Resources, Technology, and Services) is an arts nonprofit that presents its own programming and supports other nonprofits by providing affordable rental space and technical services. It operates the South of Market Cultural Center, one of four city-owned cultural facilities in San Francisco. SOMArts is a multicultural, community-built space where cutting-edge events and counterculture commingle with traditional art forms in a way that is open, engaging and inspiring.