Chapel Hill Public and Cultural Office brings local solar trailer to life this Saturday

Festival in the Park is Festifall II — if Festifall wasn't cancelled because of Hurricane Joaquin. 

The Town of Chapel Hill's Public and Cultural Arts Office collaborated with local artist Andria Linn to create its newest project that combines art and utility. 

Residents of Chapel Hill will start seeing more of the project — a solar trailer —  at events like the holiday parade. Originally intended to debut at Festifall, the first appearance of the trailer has been rescheduled to Saturday at the event "Festival in the Park" at the Southern Community Park off of Dogwood Acres Drive. 

Public Arts Coordinator Steve Wright said the solar trailer was recycled from an old equipment trailer that the Parks and Recreation Department decided to use as an energy source. 

“We came up with the concept to use funds to get solar panels on the roof of the trailer to use for electricity at outdoor events,” he said. 

The trailer was not only a great use of green energy, but it also eliminated the need for the noisy generator that was previously employed at events.

The solar panels used for the trailer lie flat on the roof, but it is not immediately apparent that the trailer provides clean energy. The Public and Cultural Arts Office came up with the idea to beautify the trailer and bring awareness to its utility. 

“We like to incorporate art into the town infrastructure,” said Jeff York, public arts administrator. “It’s almost like a mobile gallery.” 

After a difficult decision-making process by a curated panel, Linn, the artist, was chosen to create a design for the trailer. Linn was asked to incorporate solar energy imagery into the work, which would eventually be applied to the trailer’s exterior. 

“One simple act can create relevance for an entire body of people," she said. "Solar energy in itself is important, and what it's going to provide — all those things that shelter us and continue to help us stay safe."

Linn incorporated aspects of previous works from her Life Cycles series into the final painting, creating a colorful and vibrant work of art. The work was then scanned and touched up before being sent to a company that created a vinyl wrap for the trailer. 

The process involved much trial and error, as a wrap for a trailer was something that had not been done before by the company.

And eventually the project came to fruition.

Linn, who works primarily in corporate artwork, said she enjoys using her art in nonprofit projects like this. 

"With public art, for me, I want to be able to share my art with the community," she said. "With my gift, this is how I can give back to the community and raise money with my efforts."

For Wright, the project represents the best of Chapel Hill. 

“Chapel Hill really values sustainability, culture and art," Wright said. "These are things we hear a lot that town folks want to see, and it’s a great combination of those things.”

arts@dailytarheel.com