Client

Overview

The Mural Bike Rack Project is the adornment of eighteen metal bike-shaped bike racks with “murals” by eighteen local Atlanta artists. The goal of this project was to draw attention to bike infrastructure and bike usage via the avenue of functional public art. The bike racks were fabricated by a local metalsmith, and local artists were asked (via RFP) to submit their designs for a 2-D mural upon these bike racks. Eighteen local artists were commissioned to paint adornments on each of the bike racks, which were then placed in different locations around the City of Atlanta.

Goals

One of the main goals of this project was to showcase local Atlanta artists' talent. We commissioned eighteen different artists to paint the bike racks--with a goal of creating as diverse of an artist pool as possible. The footprint of the bike racks reaches far and wide, and showcase each artists' talent in a unique way.

Process

Each artist submitted a 2-3 painted design for our consideration. The eighteen artists were selected by an in house committee. The Project Coordinator, Hannah Leathers, managed each of these artists and contracted them to render the design submitted via RFP on to their respective bike racks. The design for the bike rack was based on pre-existing bike rack designs, but altered slightly to increase the surface area for the artists to paint on. The local metalsmith worked with the Project Coordinator to specify materials, design, and size. The artists collaborated with one another on occasion by creating a "mural bike rack artist community" via the web and at in person meetings. The Project Coordinator also collaborated with all locations' business owners, local neighborhood planning units, and community stakeholders to ensure that the bike racks in optimal locations.

Additional Information

This project is original to the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs Public Art Services-- to our knowledge, no project like it has been done before! We are proud of its uniqueness, and extremely proud to showcase our local artists' in a new and interesting fashion which supports both public art and bicycle culture and initiative.