Museum directors across the country have joined forces for what will be the largest outdoor exhibition in history. This summer, famous works from American artists will go on display across the U.S. on 50,000 public surfaces, including billboards and bus shelters, literally covering the country in its own art history for a project called "Art Everywhere."
The Whitney Museum, the National Gallery, the Dallas Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, and LACMA have joined forces with the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, who has contributed $500,000 to the project.
Museum directors are hopeful that the project will inspire people to see the works in real life while the OAAA believes that "Art Everywhere" will revitalize outdoor advertising, an industry that has been on the decline. The wildly poplar response to French artist Etienne Lavie's digital project replacing billboards in Milan and Paris with works of art suggests that "Art Everywhere" will have no trouble finding support.
Although the five museums have selected possible works to go on view, including Jasper Johns' Three Flags and Grant Wood's American Gothic, the public will get to choose what they want to see on the streets of their hometowns. Through May 7, you can vote for the works of art online.
The project was inspired by the British "Art Everywhere" initiative that occurred in the UK last year. Maxwell L. Anderson, the director of the Dallas Museum, was the leading force behind bringing "Art Everywhere" to America.
RELATED: The Museum Invades the Street with the "Art Everywhere" Project
[via New York Times]
