So this morning as we were hard at work putting the finishing touches on the Arterial Motives show for Saturday's opening... this fellow happened by and snapped a photo of Street Road, intrigued by Kaori Homma's artwork on our rooftop - Homma Meridian. With all that gear, we asked where he was headed. Well, where else would you be headed on a Thursday in May on Street Road --  but San Francisco... of course. He's from Germany, and the starting point was Boston. Intrepid cyclist, we didn't get your name, but we thank you for the auspicious meeting as we get ready to open our show about traffic, and we hope you'll email with a link to your transcontinental story once you get there. Happy happy trails.

It was a day of deliveries - the UnTOLLed Stories signs, heavy poles, light boxes from California and light fixtures. 
David Parker also stopped by in the afternoon to check on the bird seed sculpture and download the photos from this weekend's activity. My feeble attempt to catch a bird feasting on the seeds is the last photo - there really is a bird in that photo.

It took eight hours, a total of 325 miles, one Burger King egg and sausage sandwich with hash browns and french toast (I still feel guilty), four coffees, some fruit and veg (Emily) and some chocolate (James), but we safely picked up Michael Massaia's beautiful work.

Never thought I'd say this about being on the New Jersey Turnpike: we spent hours on it today on the drive to Michael Massaia's studio in Northern NJ, and l-o-v-e-d the ride.

Loved it, as (1) we were excited to be picking up his amazing photographic work, 'Seeing the Black Dog', taken - on the NJ Turnpike. And (2) because thinking about his haunting images, taken at rest stops in the middle of the night, shift the ways in which one sees the usually monotonous chore of getting between two places, transforming it into a traveling adventure.

Here's one of our pics from the ride, taken on an iPhone... fun, but nothing like Massaia's luscious prints, shot on film, and hand printed. Come to the exhibition opening May 31 - his work must be seen in person.

So lovely to wake up to this email from Maya Ohashi and Izumi Takayama today. We can't wait till these beautiful books arrive:
      Dear Emily,
      Hello!
      Our artwork has been finished and dispatched this morning.
      It will reach your gallery in about 5 days. We hope you would like it.
We love it.

Street Road has been working hard on the Arterial Motives exhibition (May 31-October 31, 2014), and work is arriving and we are starting to hang. We'll be posting some progress pics as well as details about the artists who are part of this extensive show, here on the Arterial-Motives-dedicated blog.... 
Over the summer we'll keep updating, especially with respect to ongoing projects, so keep checking in.
There's a separate blog for the unTOLLed stories toll booth project - follow it here.

So, to inaugurate this space....
An amazing parcel arrived from Hong Kong last week:

Two of the artists in the show are MapOffice - Laurent Gutierrez and Valérie Portefaix. Their intriguing and complex practice is based in Hong Kong, and they've sent us a fabulous collection of their publications, documenting various projects. As a former real estate office, we especially love "Unreal Estates of China".