In September 2006, the same container that was transformed into the Labor Exchange exhibition space was remade again under the guidance of master artists Bob DeBris and Carolyn Allen. Sponsored by the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the UC Santa Barbara College of Creative Studies' Arts Institute, an outreach program for local elementary through high school students, the container was transformed into a wandering art gallery and tribute to Rufino Tamayo, whose work was featured in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art exhibition: Tamayo: A Modern Icon Reinterpreted.

The transformation included murals made for the exterior of the container, poems written in response to Tamayo's art, plywood figures, photographs and films all responding to or commenting on Tamayo.  The Tamayo Mobile as it has fondly been dubbed, was the centerpiece of SBMA's community celebration kicking off  the exhibition and has now traveled as a 'mobile arts lab'  to nine different sites throughout Santa Barbara county (jointly arranged by the Education Department of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, the UC INstitute for Research in the Arts and numerous community partners): the sites include the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, McKinley School (Santa Barbara), La Cumbre Jr. High (Santa Barbara), Community Day School/La Colina Jr. High (Santa Barbara), Isla Vista Teen Center (Isla Vista), El Camino Jr. High (Santa Maria), Guadalupe Cultural Arts and Education Center (Guadalupe), Mary Buren Elementary (Guadalupe), and People's Self Help Housing, Riverside Townhouses (Guadalupe).

In each of these locations students have had the opportunity to work in and on the container, creating art work of their own and entering into conversation with the work of their peers.

The original master class included the creation of paintings, poems, plywood figures, photographs and films which were a collaborative effort of the following students, aged 10-15: Chantri, Hatziri, Shane, Hannah, Angie, Pearl, Jorge, Gloria, Ali, Roham, Mariah, Donna Marie, Jasmine, Frida, Anahi, Valentina, Cuatemoc, Angelica, Yolanda, Magali and Ashley.

Master artist Bob Debris used a 1950s vintage stereo-optic camera to photograph students as 'living works of art'. Reproductions of the Tamayo originals were mounted within stereo viewers embedded in the container's central exhibition wall, so that visitors could look inside and see the students' reinterpretations of the paintings 'come to life'. College of Creative Studies student Jennifer Marsh edited the students' video productions. College of Creative Studies Professor Caroline Allen worked with students on the poetry. Assistance on the project was also provided by College of Creative Studies teaching assistants Naomi Solomon, Caitlin Macrae, Maggie Muldoon, Brendan Barnwell, Tony Alberts, Matthew Barzman and Jennifer Marsh. Special thanks go (as always) to Patsy Hicks, Assistant Director of Education at SBMA, without whom none of this would have happened!

Press coverage of the Tamayo Mobile project:

Santa Maria Sun (5/10/2007) Cover Story: Far more than just a box:
Shipping containers aren't just for storage anymore
BY CRAIG SHAFER

Isla Vista Arts: The Tamayo Mobile

Santa Barbara School District March 2007 News Archive

More images available at Bob Debris' photo site