September 2026 All-Media Exhibit: Planes, Trains & Automobiles 2026

The “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” exhibit at Crossroads Art Center will be exciting to explore because it taps into something almost everyone connects with — movement, travel, adventure, nostalgia, and the stories tied to how we get from one place to another. The theme invites artists to interpret transportation in incredibly different ways, from realistic vintage cars and locomotives to abstract works inspired by speed, maps, motion, and the rhythm of travel itself.

Visitors can expect a wide variety of artistic perspectives:

Classic Americana and road-trip nostalgia

Industrial beauty and mechanical detail

Urban transit scenes and architecture

Aviation and the romance of flight

Trains as symbols of progress and connection

Abstract interpretations of energy, movement, and direction

 Transportation has long inspired artists because it represents more than machines — it represents freedom, change, exploration, ambition, and human connection. Museums and exhibitions around the world have explored these themes because viewers naturally respond to the emotion and excitement tied to motion and travel.

What makes this exhibit especially interesting at Crossroads is the diversity of mediums and artistic voices. One artist may create a sleek Art Deco-inspired painting of a locomotive, while another may produce a mixed-media collage using maps and ticket stubs, or a sculpture built from reclaimed automotive parts. The theme is broad enough to encourage both nostalgic storytelling and contemporary interpretations.

 It is also a theme that naturally sparks conversation. Almost everyone has memories connected to travel:

 a first car,

a favorite train ride,

family vacations,

airports and departures,

road trips with friends,

or simply the feeling of movement and possibility.

That emotional connection makes the exhibit immersive and relatable — even for visitors who may not typically consider themselves “art people.”

And visually, it should simply be fun. Transportation themes bring built-in movement, color, design, chrome, lights, machinery, perspective, and energy into the gallery space. The exhibit has the potential to feel cinematic, adventurous, and dynamic from the moment visitors walk in.