• by Fern Siegel , June 20, 2014

"Art Everywhere" is as good as its word.

From August 4-14, 58 masterpieces of American art, lent from five stellar U.S. museums, will appear on 50,000 outdoor displays nationwide, all part of the "Art Everywhere" initiative.

The paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, Thomas Hart Benton, Mark Rothko, Charles Demuth and Jasper Johns, among others, will grace static and digital billboards, subways, trains, buses and bus shelters nationwide.

Among the most popular works on display is Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks.”

The added twist: The largest outdoor art show showcasing American works was curated by the public. Some 100 words were displayed online in April, and the public spent two months voting for the final 58.

"Art Everywhere" is a collaboration of five museums — Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and Dallas Museum of Art — in addition to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, which donated the space. Various and artists, estates, foundations and rights agencies also participated in the effort.

Media partners supporting the effort include CBS Outdoor, Clear Channel Outdoor, Cemusa, Lamar, JCDecaux and NCM Cinema Network, among others.

Maxwell Anderson, the Eugene McDermott Director of the Dallas Museum of Art, said the selections “tell the story of America, express our creativity and reflect who we are.”

Certain street-level displays, such as bus shelters, will feature Blippar interactive image recognition technology. If mobile devices are held up to the artwork, using a free Blippar app, viewers can enjoy augmented reality experiences, audio guides and additional artist/museum content.

Nancy Fletcher, president and CEO of the OAAA, stated that the organization is “mindful of our responsibility toward the spaces we share as citizens,” calling "Art Everywhere" an “unprecedented contribution to the public sphere by bringing America’s artistic heritage directly to the people.”