News
Painting a MetroBus is One of Many Great Events at the St. Louis Earth Day Festival This Sunday
Patti Beck
Interim Director of Communications
314-982-1440
Learn more about the Earth and sustainable living while enjoying all kinds of food, music, entertainment, and hands-on activities at the St. Louis Earth Day Festival this Sunday in Forest Park. New this year at the annual event, all ages are invited to help paint a MetroBus and turn it into a gigantic rolling work of art that will travel on MetroBus routes in St. Louis City and County for the next year.
What: St. Louis Earth Day Festival
Where: The Muny Grounds in Forest Park
St. Louis, MO 63110
When: Sunday, April 21, 2013 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
**MetroBus Painting Activity is from 2-4 p.m.
Transportation & Fuels Neighborhood, east side of the festival
Cost: Free and open to the public
“We are so excited to finally be able to have the Metro Arts in Transit project at our Earth Day Festival! It’s a great demonstration of what we are all about – it’s a collaborative art project that welcomes all to contribute; it supports artists, a local business and public transportation,” said Cassandra P. Hage, Executive Director St. Louis Earth Day. “In addition, it will help us reinforce the message that Earth Day is not just one day out of the year where we go out of our way to live a bit more lightly – Earth Day can be every day when we all do our part!
“It is wonderful to partner with the great people at Earth Day. It’s equally a pleasure to team up with The Firecracker Press again. This is the second art bus painting we have worked on together,” said David Allen, Director of the Metro Arts in Transit Program.
Two different murals designed by Matty Kleinberg and Eric Woods at The Firecracker Press in St. Louis will be painted on the MetroBus — one on each side featuring the same bright colors and with the same words placed at the top of the designs: Earth Day Every Day.
“In chatting with St. Louis Earth Day, we were struck with the notion that the recycling and reusing of our materials and environment shouldn’t feel overwhelming if it can become incorporated into our everyday lives in easy, manageable ways,” Kleinberg said. “As a result, our design for the bus highlights some of the simple ways this mindset can be applied: conserving energy in the home, sourcing healthy local foods, working with our neighbors, tending to our green spaces and doing what we can to be responsible stewards of the environment when it comes to recycling and trash.”
“The front tires of the bus are even depicted as stirring up waves of positive energy, cooperation and life from the communities it will pass through on a daily basis. We feel very lucky to be a part of this amazing project!” Kleinberg added.
The bus painting will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. All ages are welcome to help turn the MetroBus into a traveling work of art. In about two weeks, this vehicle will join the Art Bus Fleet which is part of Metro’s Arts in Transit Program. The murals will stay on the MetroBus for one year and will travel various MetroBus routes throughout St. Louis City and St. Louis County. The Art Bus Fleet Program partners Metro with non-profit organizations in the community like St. Louis Earth Day to raise awareness for their organizations. The bus painting activity at the St. Louis Earth Day festival is sponsored by USAgain.
The Bi-State Development Agency/Metro is one of the key partners of St. Louis Earth Day. Metro will have a booth with transit information, giveaways and raffles. The booth will be on Sponsor Row located on Theatre Drive near the Muny’s main entrance in Forest Park on Sunday. For more information about St. Louis Earth Day, visit www.stlouisearthday.org.
David Allen, Cassandra Hage, Eric Woods and Matty Kleinberg are available for interviews from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Sunday at the MetroBus painting. Members of the media can reach Patti Beck from Metro Transit at 314-486-9091.
The Bi-State Development Agency/Metro (BSDA/Metro) is the operator of the Metro public transportation system for the St. Louis region, which includes the 87 vehicle, 46-mile MetroLink light rail system; 374 MetroBus vehicle fleet that operates on 75 MetroBus routes; and Metro Call‑A‑Ride, a paratransit fleet of 121 vans.
BSDA/Metro also owns and operates St. Louis Downtown Airport and its surrounding industrial business park, and the Gateway Arch Riverboats, as well as operates the Gateway Arch Revenue Collections Center, the Gateway Arch Transportation System, and the Gateway Arch Parking Facility.
