BILLBOARD ART PROJECT

About the Billboard Art Project

The Billboard Art Project is a nonprofit organization that acquires digital billboards normally used for advertising and repurposes them as roadside galleries. Projects have been held in cities all over the country and were open to all individuals and groups who were interested in participating. Currently the project is on hiatus.

Types of work that may be displayed include images created specifically for the billboard as well as images of previously made art adapted to the format. No two Billboard Art Project shows are alike; each city features new work.

Funding comes from donations by people like you.

Questions about the Billboard Art Project? Read our FAQ or email us at info@billboardartproject.org

How the Billboard Art Project started...

by David Morrison

Around 2005, when Lamar Advertising had just installed one of their first digital billboards in Richmond, Virginia, I was driving my daily route to work when I saw a screen test being run on a brand new LED billboard.

The images were the sort of “wallpaper” pictures that come preloaded on the operating system of your personal computer: marbles, a bridge at sunset, a field of flowers set against a clear blue sky.

While all of these stock photos were familiar, in fact images most likely on my pc, they carried a striking resonance when displayed on a billboard.

I can attribute this effect to a simple deviation. There are few things you do during the course of your day that are not infused with some form of advertising.

When you turn on the radio, sixty second plugs divide blocks of songs that are becoming increasingly smaller to accommodate more advertising. In the lobby of any office you can pick up a magazine and at least twenty percent of its content consists of full page advertisements. And don’t forget the subscription postcards that fall out all over the place when you give your favorite magazine a shake. Surf the web and you’ll find an ocean of banners selling just about everything. And when you drive along the road, it is difficult not to feel like you’re running through a gauntlet of yawping signs.

Advertising is so epidemic and pervasive that people pay good money for clothes so that they can advertise corporate entities like Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, and their favorite sports team.

So, when you see a billboard that isn’t telling you what to buy or who to trust, it carries the impact of the unexpected.

In the case of the simple wallpaper photos on those drives to work some years ago, I found them soothing, pleasant even. This became an experience I wanted to replicate on some level and share with others.

From concept to reality

The Billboard Art Project is a concept I had been kicking around in my head that eventually took on a life of its own.

I approached Lamar Advertising and, after much coaxing, acquired one of their digital billboards for a 24 hour period in early October, 2010

The original idea was a bit of a lark – I was going to have them run several hundred random images and phrases having nothing to do with advertising as a sort of gift to all the drivers weary of the white noise that is advertising.

The idea also had the added benefit of being a sort of social experiment. How would people respond? What would they think? The project became this great sort of internal conversation piece I would mull over to help me escape the mundane everyday tasks life sometimes requires.

From lark to art

After the first billboard had been purchased and a date set, I was discussing the project with a friend and he immediately asked to participate. Sharing this ever-changing public advertising venue for something other than advertising seemed like a natural extension of the original idea, and with a call for artists sent out through email, word quickly spread.

When it was all said and done, the Richmond, Virginia Billboard Art Project had over thirty participants who submitted images covering such a diverse range of things. Some were serious and some were outright comical. There were sketches, illustrations, photographs, clipart. The sequential submissions engaged viewers like flash cards. One of the artists even put up the sayings and lucky numbers from fortune cookies she had collected over the years.

What's next?

We are continuing to book shows in cities across the country.

And while there are certainly limitations of what artists can put up on the billboard relative to public decency and the protection of corporate relationships, the possibilities for participants really are endless.

The Billboard Art Project is a viable artistic medium that takes art out of its normal confines and clusters and allows for the marvelous inadvertent discovery that wakes people from the mundane. The Billboard Art Project is a conduit for the dissemination of variety – cultural, philosophical, spiritual, whimsical, striking, and the sublime.

This is not a cloistered project where only a chosen few can participate. The Billboard Art Project is an open call to anyone who wants to participate in that fundamental process of self expression.

The Billboard Art Project is your neighbor. It’s that nine to five manager who sketches behind the checkout counter in her spare time. Maybe it’s an acclaimed artist who simply wants to give something to the masses. Or perhaps it is a child struggling with cancer who has a white sheet of paper, a box crayons, and a world of time and pain. It could be someone on the other side of the continent or perhaps even the globe.

The Billboard Art Project is you.

People behind the Project


Claire Accardo – Project Director

Claire Accardo Claire Accardo is an artist and jewelry designer who currently lives in Richmond, Virginia. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Southern Illinois University with a degree in Metalsmithing and Textiles.

In addition to her work running the Project, she runs Salvaged Love Jewelry, which is a line of eco-friendly jewelry made by hand using vintage, salvaged, repurposed and found materials. She also enjoys working in collage and mixed media, and has been developing her process digitally for time-based, sequential work. One of Claire's pet peeves is when there is still lots of lip gloss left in the tube, but the wand can’t reach it. She is happiest when she is making things.

David Morrison – Project Founder

(volunteer) The Billboard Art Project was started by David Morrison, who first had the idea around 2005. The first digital Billboard Art Project launched in Richmond, VA in October 2010.

Sandra Mello – WebDev & Information Coordinator

Sandra In charge of digital strategy and websites for the Billboard Art Project.

Experiments with the website's front-end HTML5, CSS3, IA, and error messages. Tries to play nice with a11y and UX but sometimes fails.
Likes setting up new social media accounts for others.
She is not an Artist.
Sometimes found on twitter...



Media Production Volunteers:


Blake Oistad

Blake Oistad Blake Oistad attends Virginia Commonwealth University and majors in Kinetic Imaging. At twenty-one years young, he is excited to begin using his love for art and video to make things that really mean something, especially things can benefit the public. He has a deeply rooted passion for technology and design, a love for all things film, and tries to get out to the mountains for a good hike whenever time affords. After four good years of exposure to interesting public installations, Blake is more than ready to bring his work into the public sphere. He hopes to one day become a feature film maker so that he might entertain with original, offbeat, and occasionally dark stories.

J.M. Reed

JM Reed Reed was born and raised in Virginia Beach, Va with a very large and loving family. She graduated from Longwood University with a Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Interior Architecture. Her work ranges from abstract sculpture, paintings, and collages to creating and refurbishing functional art. Aside from working in her studio, she has experience in art sales and conservation, professional framing, and art installation. She recently moved to Richmond and is currently lighting, gripping, and shooting in the video and movie industry.

Reed became involved with the Billboard Art Project because she's a strong believer that art belongs in everyday life, not just on gallery walls.

Kayleigh Ma

Kayleigh mirrored As an advertising student of the VCU Brandcenter, I love to do things that are not advertising in my spare time. Freelancing for The Billboard Art Project is something insightful and challenging to me. I really enjoy staying in David's studio working, and playing with Ginger.

kayleighx.com

Martin Murphy

Martin Murphy Martin Murphy grew up in Chicago, IL and currently lives in New York, NY. He holds a B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute, and in 2009 he received his M.F.A. from Hunter College. His work has been exhibited internationally in venues such as the De La Cruz Collection (Miami, FL), Steinek Gallery (Vienna, Austria), Art In General (New York, NY), Gallery Litvak, (Tel Aviv, Israel), Scalamata Gallery (Venice, Italy), and the HBC Center (Berlin, Germany). His work has been featured in L’uomo Vogue, Flash Art, and ArtPulse, among others. In 2010, Martin received the Tony Smith Award from Hunter College.

Riley Arthur

Riley Arthur Riley Arthur is a student artist working primarily in video and animation, with a keen eye for creative post-production. He's spent the majority of my life pursuing many different forms of art - electronic music production, experimental film making, and genetic research in an oncology lab to name a few. Occasionally he practice transcendental meditation, and to date, he can't tell you what his mantra is.


Assistants:

Justin Painter – WebDev

(volunteer) Does some heavy lifting on the website forms when he isn't running marathons.

Greyson Goodenow – Community Liaison

Greyson Goodenow(volunteer) Gets out there to talk to you.