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The Bike Bridge
The Black Rock Arts Foundation is thrilled to announce the award of $10,000 granted from that National Endowment for the Arts for our newest project, The Bike Bridge. This new project, which launched in April of 2011, is the next evolution of our community-focused public art projects. This educational and creative program is designed specifically to engage youth living on Oakland, California.
The Bike Bridge is a collaboration with the youth of Oakland, artist Michael Christian, and with partner organization The Crucible. The twelve enrolled participants, all young women, began the project with classes in welding and art-bicycle creation, generously hosted by The Crucible. The program culminates in the collaborative creation of a large-scale sculpture made entirely of reclaimed bicycle parts, led by Christian, which will be installed publicly in 2012, funds permitting.
N.E.A.’s grant of $10,000 sets this ambitious project in motion. We still need funds to install this project publicly. Help us share this artwork with the greater public, so that all may appreciate and celebrate the achievement of these talented young women.
Fundraising efforts are underway to meet the project’s overall budget of $60,000. Help us reach our goal!
Watch a short video about the project on our blog.
A program participant of the Bike Bridge paints her bike in the Art-Bike course, hosted by The Crucible
About the Project
Twelve young women, representing seven different high schools in East and West Oakland, were selected to participate in the project. They completed courses in MIG welding and Art-Bicycle Making at The Crucible, yielding impressively inventive and refined art-bike creations. In these classes these young women learned the skills needed to help construct a large-scale sculpture.
In the second phase of the project, artist Christian worked with The Crucible’s instructors and the youth participants to design a “skeleton” structure that was then embellished by the youths. These embellishments will be made of reclaimed bicycle parts, connecting with “green,” urban bike culture and tapping into the exciting, creative buzz around “art” bikes.
Klimax by artist Michael Christian, at Burning Man, 2003
About the Site
The Bike Bridge sculpture will debut in a public space in Oakland in 2012. The piece will act as a gateway to a new community gathering space, establishing it as an ongoing venue for youth and bike-culture events.
The sculpture's arched form represents a bridge between adjacent communities with a history of conflict, a gateway that invites transformation through collaboration and expression.
A program participant of the Bike Bridge welds her bike in the welding course, hosted by The Crucible.
See more pictures of works in progress on our Flickr page.
The Bike Bridge project is funded in part by a grant from The National Endowment for the Arts. The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government that has awarded more than $4 billion on projects of artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector. To join the discussion on how art works, visit the National Endowment for the Arts at arts.gov.
The Bike Bridge has also been supported by donations of discarded bicycles and bicycle parts from:
American Steel Studios
Stanford University
Black Rock City, LLC
Iveson Ranch
Recology SF