The People’s Bus: Mobile Healing Arts Center

In 2021 I bought a short schoolbus with a plan to build it out and use it as a live/work space. I was based in New Orleans— a place that is relentlessly confronted with climate disaster, organized abandonment, and precarity. I wanted a plan in place to be mobile in the face of constant threat of hurricanes and flooding. Living in New Orleans instilled in me the importance of relying on neighbors when the city infrastructure collapses and government support systems fail to work. I come from a queer multicultural working-class family and community care is a part of my foundation.

When the pandemic hit in 2020 the practice of mutual aid became cemented in my daily life, as my art career came to a pause. I furthered my education around herbalism and holistic care; a practice that was taught to me by elders but I became committed to by way of the community of southern gardeners, farmers, and healers. I was able to make significant progress on the bus but in 2022 my mom fell gravely ill and I had to drop everything to become a full-time live-in caretaker. In the 6 months caring for her, my priorities and pursuits radically shifted. My initial plan to live a mobile life in New Orleans was no longer feasible, given that I needed to return home and root in the northeast. Just as I’ve wholeheartedly stepped into the role of caretaker, I wish to transform the bus into a caretaking tool rooted in creativity.

In the spirit of community care I plan to create a mobile healing arts center; The People’s Bus. By intergrating the knowledge I gathered in the south of survival and interdependence, the lessons learned in the long term care of my mother, and the incredible community of liberation seekers in NYC, I feel confident in our ability to make this vision tangible. The bus itself is halfway there and the structures of support are already in practice.

The People’s Bus would include:

-a free or at cost community apothecary (a project I began last winter)

-NADA and cupping (in collaboration with local practitioners)

-harm reduction supplies (provided by two clinics)

-food distro

-gallery space for art shows, art therapy, and pop-ups

Projected Cost:

-welder (labor) 50/hr—36 hrs of labor = $1800 + (supplies) $200 = $2,000

-Sheet metal $950

-lumber $800

-subfloor $1,000

-havelock wool insulation $300

-interior buildout $1000

-solar (panels and battery/solar storage) $4,000

-tankless water heater $500

-water storage $150

-mini split $800

-fridge $200

-engine, transmission maintenance, and insurance $3,300

= $15,000