UCSB'S ART MUSEUM IS TAKING IT TO THE STREETS

_x000B_A decommissioned city bus will take on a new persona, serving as the latest location for the University Art Museum's Site Work series. Glorious food images in the tradition of the Old Dutch Master still lifes are the inspiration for the exhibition "Mass TransArt: A Moveable Feast," which will be making its first stop at the Santa Barbara Farmers' Market on March 23 from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. From March 24 through April 5 the bus will be parked in front of Pier 1 Imports, at 928 State Street. It will be open to the public free of charge every day: Sunday through Thursday from 1-5 p.m., Friday and Saturday 1-8 p.m. _x000B__x000B_The MTD bus, a.k.a. traveling exhibition gallery, will be parked at the corner of Cota Street, just east of State Street, for the opening reception and block party. Once inside the self-contained exhibition, viewers will encounter the space itself as part of the artwork. Using painting, sculpture, photography, installation, and sound, seven artists will explore how visual art engages the other senses, and present new work in response to the food displays depicted in traditional still lifes. In the spirit of the occasion, ornate food presentations composed of locally grown produce will be created by the Farmers Market Association to complement the artists' works. Live music, food booths, balloon hand-outs and other events will round out the celebration of sensory bounty that "Mass TransArt" is meant to evoke._x000B__x000B_Many of the artists have actually altered the interior space of the bus. In _x000B_the front of the bus, Jane Callister, UCSB assistant professor in Art Studio, has created an architecture of Baroque ornamentation with elaborate moldings and cartouchesÑin "faux whipped cream"Ñframing late 20th-century food images. _x000B__x000B_Rie Hachiyanagi, a UCSB lecturer in Art Studio and the College of Creative Studies who is known for creating dream-like spaces out of masses of handmade paper, transforms the ceiling into a dream-world reminiscent of the elaborate textiles and pieces of lace in the backgrounds of Dutch still lifes. _x000B__x000B_Noted Santa Barbara musician and visual artist Dick Dunlap has made a bus-sized sculpture out of sound. His three-dimensional installation of sampled sounds, including clinking glasses and varied footfalls, suggests the existence of an ongoing invisible party. _x000B__x000B_Several artists elaborate on a specific artistic genre, the sumptuous banquet still life called "pronk" in Dutch, which often juxtaposes lobsters or oysters to heaps of fruit and beautiful tableware. Phil Argent, UCSB lecturer in Art Studio, uses the traditional medium of still lifesÑpaintingÑbut his food imagery decorates an oversize vanity license plate and his imaginative use of diamond dust suggests prefab frozen food products rather than sumptuous ingredients. _x000B__x000B_Joan Tanner, independent artist, reinterprets the still-life composition. Her large-scale transparent photographs shown in light boxes recreate classic arrangements out of invented components, largely unreadable bits and pieces of found objects, which are transformed by color coatings and mysterious juxtapositions. _x000B__x000B_Keith Puccinelli, graphic designer and independent artist, has chosen to focus on the subjects of the "pronk" still life, described as_x000B_"bountiful game, sea and vegetable life precisely displayed." He does so using an unimaginable variety of materials, including stuffed toy animals, grease, rags, thread, plastic trays, shrink wrapping, lumber, nails, glue, paints, tubing, rubber kick-plating, contact paper, plastic corner protectors, canned goods, and digitally printed imagery. _x000B__x000B_Keith Conley, UCSB lecturer in Art Studio, grafts sculpture, furniture, and painting to develop hybrid forms that resemble the restaurant, the theater, the diner, or the home. His richly upholstered velvet wall seeks to draw connections between the visual, tactile, or even aromatic aspects of a space. _x000B__x000B_Both Puccinelli and Conley are also producing playful advertising to occupy the upper panels inside the bus. _x000B__x000B_The bus is wheelchair accessible; advanced notice to 893-2951 is appreciated. "Mass TransArt: A Moveable Feast" will continue to function as a traveling museum for several weeks or longer, with scheduled stops at local public schools. An information hotline, 893-7564, provides details. _x000B__x000B_"Site Work: The University Art Museum Without Walls," a series of exhibitions, site-specific installations, and performances in alternative spaces at UC Santa Barbara and throughout Santa Barbara County, will take place while the UCSB museum's galleries are closed for renovation. The mission of Site Work is to bring unique exhibitions directly to the Santa Barbara community and to encourage local partnerships. The University Art Museum will celebrate the reopening of its new facility in early 2000. _x000B__x000B_This exhibition is supported in part by the Art in Civic Culture grant program, a partnership of the James Irvine Foundation, the Santa_x000B_Barbara Foundation, and the City of Santa Barbara. Additional support and generous assistance has been provided by the California Arts Council, a state agency; the University of California InterCampus Arts Program; the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District; the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce; the Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Market Association; the Downtown Organization; the Santa Barbara Old Town Merchants Association; the City of Santa Barbara, Streets, Parking & Transportation Operations; the UCSB Art Affiliates; Pier 1 Imports; M. Smith Richardson; and anonymous donors. _x000B_###_x000B_PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST_x000B_