Public Reception for Phase III of the Artist Designed Bike Racks Project

Eye On Art | 06/23/2014

Ten new Artist Designed Bike Racks were recently installed in and surrounding the Downtown Toledo area. These works of functional sculpture are designed to both brighten these neighborhoods with art and offer a needed use to cyclists in the area. The ten bike racks were designed by ten different Toledo-area artists and have been placed in high-traffic locations throughout the district. A public reception to celebrate the artists and the installation of the second phase of this ongoing project will be held on Tuesday, July 2nd, 5:30pm at the Black Kite Coffee Shop. Details regarding the reception are included below.

Artist Designed Bike Racks is a project of the City of Toledo’s 1% for Art program, which has been managed by The Arts Commission’s Art in Public Places Committee since 1977.

For further information about the project, or for photo or interview requests, please contact Art in
Public Places Coordinator Nathan Mattimoe at [email protected] or call 419-254-
2787 x11.

WHAT: Public Reception to celebrate installation of Phase III of the Artist Designed Bike Racks Project WHO: Open to the general public.

WHEN: Tuesday, July 2nd 2014 from 5:30-7:30pm.

WHY: To celebrate the new Artist Designed Bike Racks, the local artists who designed them, and all those who were involved in this project.

WHERE: The reception will be held at The Black Kite Coffee Shop, 2499 Collingwood Blvd., Toledo. Appetizers will be provided.

OVERVIEW:
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. A design competition was launched and yielded over 80 submissions from more than 40 local and regional artists. The Design Review Board, which was composed of community stakeholders, bicycle enthusiasts and neighborhood representatives, selected a group of 10 bike rack designs from the submission pool that were installed in the Uptown District in May of 2012.

In 2012 phase two was launched which yielded 123 designs from 58 local artists. Ten finalists were chosen and installed in the Warehouse district in May of 2013.

PHASE 3:
The open call for submissions yielded 239 designs from 114 local and regional artists. Ten designs have been selected from this pool (click here to see 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 Jameson 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.

These new Artist Designed Bike Racks were installed throughout the day on Wednesday, June 4. This phase of the Artist Designed Bike Racks public art project will see ten new racks installed throughout downtown Toledo and the surrounding area and will help to visually connect and identify downtown’s cultural districts, including tying together the UpTown District and the Warehouse District, with functional sculpture that promotes cycling and pedestrian activity in Downtown Toledo. Locations for Phase III include the East Toledo Family Center, Valentine Theatre, and Jermaine Park, among others.

Additional information and photos of the installed racks are available upon request. An additional updated press pack for this phase will be sent at a later date when the public reception is announced.

In the meantime, for additional information regarding the Artist Designed Bike Racks public art project, including program history, images, and video, please visit us at www.TheArtsCommission.org.