Freedom Bus Project

The Freedom Bus project was a collaboration between AC Transit and the Alameda County Office of Education in December 2011 to mark the 55th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ historic bus ride in Montgomery, Alabama --an event which effectively ignited the modern Civil Rights Movement.

To celebrate this historic action, and all civil rights movements, students from the Arts & Humanities Academy (AHA) at Berkeley High School were asked to research and design new artwork for an actual AC Transit Bus commemorating the Montgomery Bus Boycotts of 1955. This exhibition showcases the work of sixty 12th grade students from the Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA) at Berkeley High School made for the Freedom Bus Project. with teachers, Miriam Klein Stahl, Ray Cagen and Lauren Benjamin. The original images featured here were drawn by hand using ink and paint. Selected images were then digitized and shrink-wrapped directly onto the bus.

The AHA students wanted the bus to simulate the original green and yellow design of the buses in Montgomery, Alabama so that it would be eye-catching in the street.

The bus travelled bus routes all over Alameda County and also toured many Alameda County K-12 schools. The students were recognized for their contribution to the project by the Mayor of Oakland and the Superintendent of the Alameda Office of Education.