Artist Designed Bike Racks: Phase III

Eye On Art  |  02/25/2014

Program History:

Artist designed bike racks have appeared throughout the country and are particularly popular in areas that want to exhibit their support for the arts while encouraging bicycle traffic. In 2011, The Arts Commission sought to develop a series of these bike racks that would represent Toledo’s unique aesthetic and cultural identity. Since then, 20 unique bike racks designed by 16 local artists have been installed in the Uptown District and The Warehouse District.

“In the first two phases of the project, we focused on two neighborhoods adjacent to Downtown, Toledo that have had successful revitalization efforts in recent years. For this phase, we are looking to connect these nodes with central Downtown locations and surrounding neighborhoods,” says Nathan Mattimoe, Art in Public Places Coordinator. 

Phase III:

This year, the open call for submissions yielded 239 designs from 114 local and regional artists. Ten designs have been selected from this pool (see attached images.) The selected designs are as follows: Spinning Transportation by Bridget Mescher, Graffiti by Enzi Satine, Paperclip by Eric Broz, Lettuce Turnip the Beet by Jameison Staneluis, Banana Stand by John Eikost, Little Red Fox by Holly Whitney, Two Strings by Larry Meyer, Are You Nutty? by Nicki Schmidt, Blue Guitar by Jonathan Rogers, and From Where I’m From by Greg Lukasik. Artists will receive a $500 honorarium per selected design.

The Arts Commission anticipates that these new Artist Designed Bike Racks will be installed in the spring of 2014. Downtown Toledo and surrounding areas have been selected as the area of focus for Phase III of this project.

Additional information regarding fabrication and installation of the new racks will be made available throughout the winter. Stay tuned at www.TheArtsCommission.org. This project is funded by the City of Toledo's 1% for Art Program. The 1% for Art Program is administered by the Arts Commission through its Art in Public Places Committee.