MLAB MISSION STATEMENT


The Mobile Literacy Arts Bus (MLAB) is an artist-run, renovated recreational vehicle that exists as a flexible space open to community members’ proposals for alternative educational and cultural programming.

MLAB is the collaborative effort of the 2007-2008 Social Sculpture class at Syracuse University, comprised of 10 art and architecture students and lead by artist and Director of Community Initiatives in the Visual Arts of Syracuse University, Marion Wilson. Our mission was to transform a used, 1984 Recreational Vehicle Bus into a Mobile Literacy and Arts Bus for use by the Syracuse City School District and the greater Syracuse Community. MLAB serves as a physical manifestation of Syracuse University’s Scholarship in Action initiative, by pairing University resources with community needs in an attempt to address the staggering drop out rates in the Syracuse City School District High Schools. Through the School of Education at Syracuse University, incredible curricula that bridge photography, poetry and literacy currently exist within the public schools-- however due to a crisis of space, the schools don't always have the space or resources to house it. MLAB is this space. The bus serves as a mobile classroom, digital photo lab, gallery space, and community center. As a team, we did it all: demolition, design, and construction.

MLAB is made possible from the generous support of the School of Education at Syracuse University and Entitiative.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Bus Progress

Hey all,

We made excellent progress on the bus this past week! Here are some photos of what the bus looked like as of this morning.

Above 24" is installed and just requires a couple tweaks to achieve a perfect fit. Below 24" is framed - I'll be making the drawings required to CNC the panels in the next 24 hours or so. More of the same.

It looks very similar to our initial renderings, which is promising...

Sliding window panel in action - the sill etc. will get trimmed w/ some of the aggregate wood flooring strips we've been making.
Right side of bus - we broke up the 4x8 panels into smaller sheets in an attempt to fit the scale of the space a little better. I think it works pretty well...
Window slider detail.
The next project - by the middle of next week we hope to have a completed door (latch, trim, weatherstripping etc.) The pink foam to the left of the door will get covered by a piece of the porcelain steel.
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1 comment:

Author said...

I like the picture of my hand holding the rendering.. Chom on!

Saturday, February 02, 2008 8:25:00 PM

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