Since its founding in 1971, Artrain has mounted exhibitions inside specially designed and renovated railcars and traveled to host communities via the nation's railways. With the nation's railroad companies as generous partners, Artrain has been extremely successful in reaching more than 3.2 million people during 845 community visits across the nation.

Interest in Artrain's programs, however, extends beyond the reach of America's railroads. The rail system reaches approximately 30-percent of the country. Consequently, many communities that are interested in Artrain's programs and request its services have had to be turned away because of there are no rail lines to reach them.

With that in mind, Artrain is expanding its capacity in order to serve this demand and to better serve our constituents across the entire country.

Over the next several months, Artrain will transition into a series of state-of-the-art semitrailers for all future exhibitions. Known in the industry as Mobile Museum Units (MMU), each unit can provide approximately 1,000 square feet of gallery space while on location, while continuing Artrain's long-standing tradition of replicating museum facility standards for environment and security.

Among the many benefits of this new facility are:

• Being able to visit any city in the US;
• Have complete control over scheduling;
• Be able to end periods of "downtime;"
• Visit more communities and welcome more visitors;
• Schedule longer and shorter visits;
• Accommodate "impromptu" visits.

Artrain's MMUs are currently in the design and planning stages. With support from donors and friends, Artrain hopes to launch the new facility in early 2010. To view a concept video of the new facilities,click here.