Imagine having a quick chat with a man who just one day prior was busy playing polo with Bill Gates. For Dan Hood, senior studying fine art, this random conversation was just one of the many connections made during a summer of epic proportions.

But before Hood could embark on a summer spent showcasing his art across North America, he first had to accept putting his work out there — something he only recently accomplished.

“A couple years ago, I started really feeling comfortable getting my work out and showing it to people,” Hood said, explaining that he needed the public to be able to access his work to help him grow as an artist.

So what started out as a bit of a joke among friends, “Dan Hood Live” soon evolved to an ambitious, traveling, pop-up art show entitled: “Barriers 2015.” Beginning in Bryan, Texas, Hood spent the summer traveling out West, up the coast and even across the Canadian border displaying his art in creative ways and unique spaces.

“For me, the whole experience became breaking barriers between me and other creatives and hoping on generosity to do shows,” Hood said.

Driving across the country, he confessed, and having no plan about 99 percent of the time was equal parts exhilarating and taxing. What Hood found, however, was that most people who were in a position to help were completely willing to ensure that barriers, ironically, were no such thing for Hood to contend with.

But, like any good story, Hood’s path was not perfectly paved.

If unable to find a space for his pop-up installation, Hood would often take his work to parks or other public spaces.

“The times when I was doing them in parks and people were running and walking their dogs past me and looking at me like I was a crazy person were some of the most fun and playful ones to me,” Hood said. “That was a really fun thing and a good challenge for me to see how my work would be activated at different places and see how the community would respond to it.”

Bringing art directly to communities is something that Hood is certainly passionate about, even doing so in Knoxville’s own Parkridge neighborhood. Whether near or afar, Hood said he wants to ensure that art is never exclusive.

“I think there’s a really big problem with museums and galleries and what we look at as the gatekeepers of the art world excluding the poor, the black, or people who can’t afford or don’t feel comfortable going into galleries,” Hood said.

He went on to explain that he doesn’t believe that white pedestals or walls are essential for showcasing art, declaring that pop-up shows and installations are “freeing” and “nomadic” ways to get art out into communities in an impactful way.

Beauvais Lyons, a professor of art at UT, commented on Hood’s energy and dedication for his recent projects, calling these attributes “impressive.”

“Dan’s ‘Barriers’ project this summer was wildly ambitious, with the objective of traveling to 29 galleries and alternative spaces across the continent this summer,” Lyons said. “This involves both a great deal of planning and an ability to be flexible and work with new communities and spaces.”

For Hood, art is everywhere; it would be hard to imagine a world without it. Though he isn’t entirely sure what his post-graduate life will look like long-term, he said he plans to travel to Hawaii and work on a farm for a period, just taking some time to enjoy new scenery.

Since much of Hood’s work centers around imposing identity on industrial-type objects, he said he eagerly awaits the inspiration that will likely come while being surrounded by farm equipment.

“There are moments of art everywhere …,” Hood said. “You can find it everywhere, you just have to look for it and allow yourself to think of it as art.”