Living on an Art Bus

by Scott Walker

Imagine traveling the country in a bus that has a Volkswagen van for a topper... Imagine traveling the country with the idea of bringing art to everyone... That is what one family of four is doing.

Heather Platen told me that her family has been all over the country on the bus. Keep in mind, this is not your average bus. The lower half is a 1953 Chevrolet bus purchased in South Dakota. The 1969 VW van was purchased and added to the top in New Mexico. They have also been to places like Vermont, Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, just to name a few places.

I ran into the family of four when they decided to make a pit stop in the small community of Beechgrove, Tennessee. On board is Heather, her husband LeRoy Herr, their one year old daughter and their five year old daughter. Together, they take their art work into communities far and wide.

The bus is self-sustainable and Heather commented that they went off the grid to be in total control of their life. "We were able to provide everything that we needed and more by reducing our need for income," Heather told me. She went on to state, "By living a more simple life we were able to access that 'extra' that we wanted to provide for our kids."

LeRoy said that he likes for the bus to be a conversation starter that leads to important topics like self-sustainability, monetary slavery and more. Meanwhile, Heather talks being creative with art.

Listen to an interview below (14 min and 30 sec):



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