ART ROUTE 66/99 COMING SOON
ROUTE 66 MURAL CITY
While producing a mural and mural project in the Route 66 town of Cuba, Missouri, LOUGHERY realized how important the Mother Road heritage was to the incredible artist and community she as working with and how wonderful it would be to have a chain of murals down the entire length of the road. That is when she contacted the National Historic Route 66 Federation with her unique idea for the National Route 66 Mural Program. This program and partnership is still going strong today with the partnership of the same unique idea for mural art along the heritage highways of Canada. After 20 years what was a dream is now a reality as murals are a movement and a tourism and community renewal tool that Loughery saw decades ago, as the visionary artist she is. The Wayfinder Project -ART ROUTE Blue is the connected mural route that joins the two countries of the USA and Canada and meets at the Peace arch in an inclusive root to route mural story trail that all communities can connect to.
A legacy art highway vision that Loughery saw in 2001. Then in 2005 when she signed a 3 million dollar contract to add the British Columbia communities to the connected highway trail and again in 2020 when the AR:T ROUTE BLUE 66/99 rebranded to an international ART ROUTE.
MURAL HIGHWAY Dream
An ART ROUTE LEGACY trail dream come true one town at a time!
Murals draw people into their community, especially the youth that sometimes live between the system and the cities. Michelle’s philosophy is one that believes the roots of our talent are the pathways to the future for non traditional learners. While creating mural spaces, these public artwork events unveil solutions to many social and economic issues faced by youth and communities today. As a child, Loughery witnessed firsthand how mural art rescued her hometown, a small coal-mining town in British Columbia that followed the Chemainus Mural inspiration. Inspired by that early experience, she has become a compelling spokesperson and practitioner of mural art in the service of community revitalization. Loughery’s work has spanned the globe and has inspired hundreds of similar projects.
Not only did Loughery design & paint the first mural in Cuba, Missouri (depicting a Model T Ford long ago owned by a local bank president) with a local Cuba artist, she also inspired Viva Cuba ( Route 66 Mural City) that a program of murals was just the thing to put Cuba back on the map. As Jill Barnett of Viva Cuba put it: “Loughery gave us the vision that we could do a mural project that would not only transform ugly walls into public art but also increase tourism and economic growth”
For over three decades, one wall at a time, Artist Loughery has led artists, youth, government and communities in art creative placemaking and thematic brand experiences. Her mural projects were ground breaking in a social economic wayfinding signature philosophy that has changed thousands of youth lives and the ripple effect of the projects have been far-reaching and legacy leaving globally.
Considered a pioneer in her mural work by those who aided her in her global art projects and by the artists and at-risk youth who took their lives to the wall and by those who followed in her footsteps to pursue mural-based art and skills education in other communities. Loughery’s projects have helped communities raise millions of dollars while helping to reduce youth poverty and providing local youth with the skills needed to achieve their dreams.
Creating opportunities for youth and community artists to meaningfully participate in community building and community revitalization though community specific community art in the community realm, creative youth interventions and inclusions and true creative community placemaking based on a strong immigrant community skills base. A visionary, community connector and an artist whose passion for giving youth a voice was a key influencer in the mural movement globally today.
Artist Michelle Loughery Community WAYFINDER AR:T Concept AR:T ROUTE BLUE( AR:T ROUTE 66/99 and ART ROUTE CANADA -Destination Mural Town) has deep roots in her small rural coal mining community. Since 1995 Loughery has been innovating wayfinding public art and heritage as a social community action building program, that has become a movement along the highways of Canada with many partnered communities, non profits, youth, elders and lead by a wonderful bunch of visionary artists and community visionaries.
The connected rural community AR:T in action to recovery, connecting creatives and infrastructure building both physically and digitally. Wayfinder Rural Creates is a model of award winning Community Development Artist Michelle Loughery and the strong team of Creative minds that have supported her art in action projects for over 30 years. A true art infrastructure creating consortium, now call AR:T ROUTE BLUE. This group has carried the dream of a highway connected art route for decades, and now as a support to recovery the dream has been given wings.
Artist Michelle Loughery Community AR:T Concept AR:T ROUTE BLUE( AR:T ROUTE CANADA) has deep roots in her small rural coal mining community. Since 1995 Loughery has been innovating art and heritage as a social community action building program, that has become a movement along the highways of Canada with many partnered communities, non profits, youth, elders and lead by a wonderful bunch of visionary artists and community visionaries.
Regional community destination marketing non-profit such as Gold Country Community Services have shared in knowledge exchange to bring the innovation of her Wayfinder Rural Creates Program to their tourism strategies. Community art will lead a rural connection, to help creatives, creative businesses and rural communities connect in an over arching narrative brand to support to new tourism in educational art and heritage infrastructure trail to support the work all of us must so to support recovery after the pandemic. It will take all of us working together as an ART ALLIANCE to create a drivable route that pays tribute to the past as it paves a future.
Artist Loughery has a reputation for considered, creative, and critical strategic foresight and insight, research and infrastructure analysis. She is a respected thought leader and innovator in the development and implementation of actionable national, regional, and local art policy and projects, community art strategy and plans to support arts and cultural organizations, creative placemaking, and creative culture-led regeneration. Master mind of the Wayfinder Rural Creates model and a connected Destination MURAL TOWN Augmented Reality – AR:T ROUTE RADIO PODCAST Art app tour.
The connected rural community AR:T in action to recovery, connecting creatives and infrastructure building both physically and digitally. Wayfinder Rural Creates is a model of award winning Community Development Artist Michelle Loughery and the strong team of Creative minds that have supported her art in action projects for over 30 years. A true art infrastructure creating consortium, now call AR:T ROUTE BLUE. This group has carried the dream of a highway connected art route for decades, and now as a support to recovery the dream has been given wings.
