These challenging times have forced previous Awesome Pittsburgh grant winners to re-imagine their work in a different form. For Roadkill Gallery, love for Pittsburgh’s art community means making sure local artists still have a showcase for their work.

For now, the Roadkill Gallery truck remains parked. The art gallery, housed in a 20-foot box truck, is a space focused on making local artists and their artwork accessible to the community. But with space limitations that would make social distancing difficult, Chelsea Schilling, artist and director of Roadkill Gallery, knew she had to get creative on how she could promote collaboration and arts education throughout the Pittsburgh area.

So when the pandemic forced everyone indoors, Schilling got busy posting online Artist Shoutouts. “We are living in an unsettling time where support for one another is very much needed,” says Schilling. “This is a good opportunity for both artists and community to receive that support and discover new artists and artwork in our home city.”

The posts are open to any local artist who reaches out and wants to participate. They have the option of featuring their background and artwork or what they’ve been up to during quarantine.

Schilling was excited at the prospect of hitting the road this summer and participating in some fun community events, but now the truck most likely will not be in commission until next May. Still, she believes that Roadkill Gallery is becoming part of the glue that sticks everyone together. “This is what art is — it is a device for people to find an outlet, to come together and share experiences. It’s beautiful, ugly, messy, extravagant, eye opening, conceptual, etc.,” she said.

“We may not have a truck this year, but we will still be present and think of creative ways to fulfill our mission.”

You can connect with Roadkill Gallery on their website, Facebook, or Instagram.