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[CNJRoss]

8/28/24

 

 

September 14: BART is hosting a paper ticket

fashion show to say goodbye to the old tickets

and celebrate Transit Month

 

 

 

BART is hitting the runway this upcoming Transit Month to give a final send-off to our retired paper tickets that were a portal to our system for more than a 1 billion trips in the decades since BART’s inception.  

We gave fashion design students from four local schools thousands of old paper tickets with one condition: transform them into high fashion.   

The students from Academy of Art University, Oakland School for the Arts, City College of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University will strut their stuff and share their unique designs for a full-blown fashion show, “Project Doneway: A Farewell to BART Paper Tickets,” in the parking lot at Rockridge Station on Saturday, September 14, from 1pm to 3pm. 

“We gave our legacy cars a proper send off when they were retired and our paper tickets deserve the same treatment,” said Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost, who came up with the idea as another way to engage youth and young adults in the Bay Area and to activate BART stations through art. “Our paper ticket designs have long shown up in artistic Bay Area cultural references. This event was inspired by a dress made out of BART’s iconic blue paper tickets by Sean Porter nearly ten years ago, and I wanted to offer students who rely on BART to get around the opportunity to showcase their talents.” 
 

 

 

Oakland School for the Arts fashion students at work.

Project Doneway coincides with Transit Month, an annual celebration of the countless buses, trains, ferries, bicycles and people that make up the Bay Area’s vibrant transportation ecosystem. Throughout the month of September, members of the public can enjoy contests, prizes, panels, clinics, concerts, bar crawls, hikes and more across the region. Learn more about the special month hosted by San Francisco Transit Riders and Seamless Bay Area and the dozens of events happening throughout September on the Transit Month webpage.  

During Transit Month, the public is encouraged to explore the region by taking local transportation. The month is hallmarked by a Ride Contest. Every ride you take on Bay Area public transit is an entry into the Transit Month raffle. Track your rides to earn badges, win prizes, compete against friends by signing up and logging rides at ridecontest.com  

Some of the BART-related events this year include: 

• Wednesday, September 4, 5pm, at Balboa Station: Sound Tracks free concert. Featuring Congolese drummer Kiazi Malonga, performing with full percussion band.

 

• Sunday September 15, 10:45am, at Downtown Berkeley Station: Hiking by Transit: Berkeley to Orinda via Siesta Valley. This hike will head up through Claremont Canyon, taking in majestic views of the the Bay, before crossing over Skyline Boulevard into Siesta Valley and descending into Orinda. BART back or stay for Ice Cream at local favorite Loard's. 

 

• Saturday, September 21, 2pm, at Pleasant Hill Station: BART and Bike to the Walnut Creek Walnut Festival:  The Festival offers live music, a carnival, a showcase of local and regional artists, builders, food, craft beer garden, and more. 

 

• Saturday, September 28, 11am, starting at Pittsburg/Bay Point Station and ending at Antioch Station: Bike East Bay Group Ride on the Delta de Anza Trail.  Explore the paved, multi-use hiking, biking and equestrian trail that connects Concord, Bay Point, Pittsburg, Antioch and Oakley.

 

• Saturday, September 28, 12pm, at Downtown Berkeley Station Plaza: Downtown Berkeley Transit Month Rally. Come rally support for and learn about public transportation in Berkeley and the Bay Area. 

 

• Sunday, September 29, 1pm, at Lake Merritt Station: The Craft of Transit: Craft Ride from Lake Merritt to San Jose Flea Market. Bring your favorite craft project to work on and make friends as we ride to the San Jose Flea Market. Gather at the Lake Merritt BART concourse at 1 p.m. then head down as a group to board the 1:27 pm rain to Berryessa / North San Jose BART Station.  RSVP here. 

 

  Follow us on X @sfbart for news and @sfbartalert for automated service advisories

 

[CNJRoss]

9/20/24

 

Project Doneway winners announced: BART's

retired paper tickets dazzle on the runway at

Rockridge Station

 

 

 

Watch the Full Show on YouTube

 

Reyhana Shepard rides BART to Oakland School for the Arts (OSA) every day, but she had never seen a BART paper ticket before her fashion class began designing garments made with the old tickets for BART’s Project Doneway fashion show. The runway show was held last Saturday, Sept. 14, in the Rockridge Station parking lot and featured 35 original outfits created by more than 80 students at OSA, Academy of Art, San Francisco State University (SFSU), and City College of San Francisco (CCSF). The designers were cheered on by a crowd of hundreds. 

After weeks of designing, 17-year-old Shepard became perhaps too familiar with the paper tickets, which BART retired in 2023 in favor of Clipper cards. Her hard work paid off; Shepard won First Place in the high school category for her dress, entitled “BART of Hearts,” which was modeled by Jeylei Hernandez.  

“I couldn’t even say how many hours I spent on it,” Shepard said, revealing she used at least 1,000 tickets for the dress. “The tickets are so hard and stiff. It’s a challenge but also an opportunity.”  

There was only one rule for the competition: transform the paper tickets into high fashion. They created their looks using more than 150,000 paper tickets collectively. The students delivered, displaying garments inspired by everything from topographical maps and the Oakland skyline to cauliflower fractals and the Oakland Athletics. There was even a special Christmas tree dress created by OSA’s Meleina Beasley, 16, for her four-year-old sister Naxa Moon to model.  

“Our paper ticket designs have long shown up in artistic Bay Area cultural references,” said BART Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost, who came up with the idea for the fashion show. “This event was inspired by a dress made out of BART’s iconic blue paper tickets by Sean Porter nearly ten years ago, and I wanted to offer students who rely on BART to get around the opportunity to showcase their talents.” It was also a great opportunity to reuse tickets that would otherwise head to the shredder, Trost said.  

Prizes were awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the high school and college categories as well as “best use of paper tickets.” Winners received Clipper cards and Amazon gift cards at various price points, and the first-place winners will get the opportunity to collaborate with BART on new merchandise. All the garments from the show will be on display at BART Headquarters in the coming weeks. 

OSA middle schoolers were also awarded prizes for designing “mini outfits” that were displayed on mannequins for the public to vote on. Za'Moria Spikes took 1st place and 2nd place went to Penelope Yap and Sophia Jones.

An extra award was added to the program for “best accessories,” which went to Academy of Art’s Jackson Tait and Ashlyn Springer for creating a t-shirt, crocheted belt, and crocheted bag that had the audience oohing and aahing and asking for replicas to purchase after the show.  

The show was judged by three local fashion luminaries: Charleston Pierce, Randy Wells, and Mary Campbell, who praised the designers for their creativity, craftsmanship, and hard work. The judges were effusive onstage as they announced the prizes. “We are so proud of you guys,” Pierce said multiple times during the ceremony.  

In the high school category, designers Evie Burger, 16, and Lila Damany, 17, came in second for a fierce two-piece outfit constructed of red BART tickets modeled by Lily Fritsch. Third went to 14-year-olds Isadora Oznowicz, Naomi Brack, and Patty Barajas for a green and yellow dress intended as a “farewell to the Oakland A’s.” Their garment was modeled by Gabbi Luevano.  

SFSU students Sebastian Vogelmann, Lux Anne Vargas (who also modeled the garment), Keeley Ward, Lexi Ulloa, and Hikari Nakatani, won 1st place in the college category for an incredible outfit that judge Wells said, “proved there are no limits to creativity when it comes to material.”  

An unusual feature of the garment was a repurposed car bumper, which model Lux wore as a collarbone embellishment.  

“I got into a car accident going to school, and this bumper fell off, so we just used it,” said Nakatani. “Now I take BART to school.” 

The team also won the award for “best use of paper tickets.”  

Second place went to SFSU designers Madison Macneill, Emma Wolfe, Dyllie Gilson, Grace Balelo, Sofia Cereghini, for a red design that “blends natures’ geometry with avant-garde fashion" and was inspired by the “alien appearance of cauliflower.” The team’s model, Mya, began bawling once she exited the runway – she was so proud of her team and their accomplishment.  

Finally, third place went to SFSU’s Katelyn Camacho, Edgar Garcia, Jude Ramos, and Eugene King for a garment inspired by the blue Power Ranger.  

“It’s just so creative, and we all love Power Rangers,” said judge Campbell.  

After the show, students were laden with bouquets and cards and cheered by the many people who came out to watch the show. It was proof that BART is so much more than a transit system – it's a means of connecting communities and creating space for art and creativity. It’s also a practical means of transportation for field trips to fabric stores, said Stephanie Verrieres, the head of the fashion department at OSA.  

"We are on BART all the time,” she said.  

The class took BART along with their fantastical paper ticket garments from their school in Downtown Oakland to the show at Rockridge, full of smiles and some butterflies. Many of Verrieres’s students had never participated in a fashion show outside of school, but up on the runway, they looked like absolute pros.  

“This fashion show is a really nice way to recycle the tickets. What else are you going to do with them?” said 75-year-old Liz Scotta, who is transit-dependent. Liz sewed an Elizabethan-style dress fit for a queen, entitled it ElizaBARTan. She broke five needles and burnt out her sewing machine in the process of creating the dress, which took her around 100 hours.  

Like many participants, Project Doneway was Scotta’s first ever fashion show. It had been on her bucket list for a long time.  

“Better late than never!” she said.  
 

See the list of winners and more photos on bart.gov.