Good news if you love public art. The beloved neon bike outside OCADU has won the backing of City Council, and as part of a new project it will not only be saved, but duplicated across the city.
Shortly after artists Caroline Macfarlane and Vanessa Nicholas spray painted an abandoned two-wheeler that had been locked up on Dundas West for as long as anyone could remember, the city tagged the bike with a removal order. Macfarlane and Nicholas quickly gained a groundswell of support online, with commenters venting that the bureaucrats at City Hall care more about bylaws than beautification. But it turns out they needn’t have worried.
Today at council Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford introduced the two artists to unanimous applause and announced that as part of the Good Bike Project the city will be offering up 150 abandoned bikes to Macfarlane, Nicholas, and anyone else who wants to spruce them up. According to a press release, the project intends to “mark sites that promote the ethos of regeneration and community.”
“Hopefully the project propels a positive conversation about change and paying more attention to the arts and biking in the city,” said Nicholas.
It takes a day’s work to fully paint one bike, so Nicholas and Macfarlane will be looking for assistance in reaching their initial goal of converting 50 bikes into street art.
“We’re looking to set up a public event where we’ll have a number of bikes on hand that people can paint with us,” said Macfarlane. “We really need other people’s help because we can’t do it on our own. The Regent Park community has asked to do a few bikes for them, so they’ll probably be the first to help us.”
Macfarlane and Nicholas say they’re not sure when the first new bikes will be completed, but they should start hitting the streets soon.
The original neon bike has been given a reprieve and Nicholas and Macfarlane wheeled it into the council chamber for the launch of the Good Bike Project. That led to one of the weirdest things ever seen at City Hall: Mayor Rob Ford sitting astride a neon art bike on the floor of the council chamber. Ford issued a statement saying, “The Good Bike project is an example of creativity that exists within young artists in our City. It will certainly be exciting when these bikes appear around Toronto this summer.”
Ford’s campaign statements about cycling and city-as-business have made him public enemy number one for bikers and art-lovers alike in this town, but he continues to confound expectations, with rumours that his administration plans to build a network of separated bike lanes downtown.
Of course he’s got nothing to lose by throwing his weight behind a project that costs nothing, and his backing of Good Bike is in stark contrast to his war against graffiti, another form of public art that’s arguably as legitimate. Spray painting bikes is ok in his books, but spray painting walls? Time to break out the pressure washer.
Macfarlane was obviously uncomfortable with providing a photo op to a mayor whose policies she tends to disagree with. “It’s uncomfortable territory to be in,” she said, “but if it gets him thinking about art and bikes, then that’s all the better.”
