With the recent addition of new bike racks in downtown Windsor, which I’m happy to see, and with the recent addition to some of those racks with some yarn bombs, downtown feels a bit more like a place, rather than just an any-space-whatever.
I’m also aware though, that Tecumseh has had an ongoing bike rack design competition, which has obviously been successful elsewhere. Above, there’s a photo from a recent installation of a bike rack sculpture in the Parkdale area of Toronto. With so, so, so many talented sculptors and artists in the city, this should be standard practice. Why doesn’t Artcite try to work with the city to have a small bike rack sculpture competition for the downtown core?
Alternatively, we here at Broken City Lab are working on brainstorming new ways to turn any piece of infrastructure into a functioning, safe, and secure bike rack.
[via Worldchanging & spacing]
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Because Artcite barely has the staff and funding to function in its capacity as a gallery?
It’s the kind of project that would be taken on by a municipal arts council, if we had one that did anything. I know the ones that WAC sponsored were well received and didn’t cost an obscene amount to produce.
I would never suggest adding any more work to Artcite’s staff, nor would I recommend any funding come through Artcite’s operating budget. However, I think that Artcite has a long way to go in garnering more support from the community and municipality at large and an effort like this could help make Artcite’s activity more visible. A special committee or an extension of the programming committee would likely be the ones to take on a project like this, and funding could be sourced through a variety of partners, considering the relative inexpensiveness of the project. Certainly though, the ACWR might be better suited to facilitate a project like this, given the role they could be playing in the community. My thoughts on Artcite’s participation just came directly from the AGM earlier this week, at which discussion began about new programming initiatives and partnerships not tied directly to the gallery space itself.
Anyways, thanks for the links to the WAC! Those are actually look much more doable than the ones in Parkdale.
Does anyone have any information on the bike rack sculpture project in Tecumseh?
I know there is an article in the May WAMM about bike rack sculpture in Tecumseh. I can’t remember off the top of my head, but I think it quotes from the people responsible on council?
Kate, thanks for the tip. I’ll keep an eye out for it!
I agree with you about Artcite. I know the staff can’t do it, but finding ways to have a fundraiser to help fund another employee through part of the year to help with projects like this. It would help diversify the reach of Artcite and help make itself known to more people than those who go to the openings.
i posted about this on my bike site today
http://bikewindsor.com/?p=624
with the ACWR getting much more funding than Artcite, I agree they could of helped with something like this.