Provided by Keep Prince William Beautiful
Under the Omniride/KPWB sponsored program aimed to beautify neighborhoods, celebrate environmental stewardship, and improve the transit rider experience
The Woodbridge Women’s Club, in partnership with Keep Prince William Beautiful (KPWB) and OmniRide, has unveiled its adopted bus shelter at the corner of Old Bridge Road and Troupe Street, featuring environmentally themed artwork. KPWB Executive Director Rico Fleshman, OmniRide Executive Director Bob Schnieder, and Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye were on hand with members of the Woodbridge Women’s Club.
The program, which has been active since 2022, utilizes public art combined with a litter removal program to transform designated bus shelters into public art spaces, to beautify neighborhoods, bring awareness to the importance of protecting our natural environment, and ultimately, improve the ridership experience among residents.
“We have had such an amazing time working with the Woodbridge Women’s Club and the artist, Emily Thomson to transform this bus shelter. I have loved their interest and enthusiasm – and of course I am always excited when we can broaden the culture around environmental stewardship throughout Prince William County.” said Rico Fleshman, Executive Director of Keep Prince William Beautiful.
The bus shelter adoption program also includes a dedicated and consistent litter cleanup performed by the adopting organization and the members of the Woodbridge Women’s club have worked hard to keep the area around their shelter clean and free of litter.
Pamela Montgomery, current President of the Woodbridge Women’s Club said, “Through this project, we are helping to maintain a clean, welcoming transit shelter and contribute to safer, more attractive public spaces for commuters, pedestrians, students and families.” She goes on to say, “The painted shelter also reminds us how the visual arts can enrich everyday places; whenever I look at the painting, I smile with joy at its vibrant colors and beautiful scenery.”
OmniRide has been nominated and won several awards for the Adopt A Shelter program.
About the Artist: Emily Thomson
Artist Bio: Emily Thomson is an artist whose preferred medium is oil paints. She also enjoys working with acrylic paints, inks, and gouache. She runs her family’s business, Manassas Olive Oil Company, in Manassas. When she isn’t working at the shop, she enjoys being out in nature, hanging out with her animals, and painting.
Artist Statement: “The Woodbridge Women’s Club wanted an art piece to be inspired by the idea of taking care of our environment and showing our future generation caring for the earth in some way. I took that idea and created a scene where children/adolescents are cleaning garbage and maintaining the piece of land with care to protect the beauty our area has. I wanted to show off the landscape and the variety of florals, greenery and nature that we need to preserve and protect.”
About KPWB
Keep Prince William Beautiful, Inc. is a non-profit environmental organization that serves Prince William County through partnering with residents, businesses, and government to educate and inspire people to be environmental stewards and keep Prince William clean and beautiful. KPWB offers litter removal, recycling education, beautification, water quality improvement programs, and manages the Prince William County Green Business Council.
About OmniRide
The Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC), operating as OmniRide, provides a variety of services in Prince William County, Stafford County, the City of Manassas and the City of Manassas Park including: OmniRide Express and OmniRide Local bus routes; OmniRide Ridesharing for the promotion of carpools and vanpools; and OmniRide Employer Services which helps businesses to implement and expand commuter benefit programs. PRTC also co-sponsors the Virginia Railway Express in partnership with the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.
