Bike Bridge - Press Release

June 22, 2011
CONTACT:  Tomas McCabe
(415) 626-1248 / tomas@blackrockarts.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Black Rock Arts Foundation announces selection of Lead Artist
for new N.E.A. funded project, The Bike Bridge

June 22, 2011—San Francisco, CA. Tomas McCabe, Executive Director of the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF), announced today that artist Michael Christian has been selected as the Lead Artist for the foundation’s newest project, The Bike Bridge.  Christian will work with the youth participants of the project to design and build a large-scale sculpture made of reclaimed bike parts that will be installed in public spaces in the Oakland metropolitan area.

The Bike Bridge is partially funded by a grant of $10,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. BRAF was one of 1,057 not-for-profit organizations recommended for a grant as part of the federal agency’s first round of fiscal year 2011 grants. In total, the Arts Endowment will distribute $26.68 million to support projects nationwide.

About the project

With this project BRAF turns its focus on serving Oakland’s youth, offering them a unique opportunity to connect with each other and their community, to contribute substantial creative input to the design and creation of a large-scale public work, and to learn new skills in a fun, positive and supportive setting.

“The Bike Bridge is the next evolution of our community-focused public art projects,” McCabe said. “This educational and creative project is designed specifically to engage Oakland’s youth. We’ll use this project to mobilize the many BRAF supporters and artists who live in the area, and to provide youth with a fun, unique, educational and artistic experience. BRAF is grateful for the support and opportunity to grow the capabilities of our Civic Arts program, and to serve the vibrant community of Oakland.”

The Bike Bridge project began earlier this year with a series of classes hosted generously by BRAF’s partner organization, The Crucible. Twelve young women, representing seven different high schools in East and West Oakland, were selected to participate. They have completed courses in MIG welding and Art-Bicycle Making, yielding impressively inventive and refined art-bike creations. The Crucible is lending its experienced staff instructors and first-rate educational facilities to the project, providing these young women with the training and resources necessary to help construct a large-scale sculpture.

In the second phase of the project, artist Christian will work with The Crucible’s instructors and the youth participants to design a “skeleton” structure that can later be 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.

The decorative elements and visual aesthetic of the piece will be determined in tandem with the instructors at The Crucible and the youth participants, reflecting a deeply collaborative creative process characteristic of many BRAF projects. Although the artist will construct much of the structural framework of the piece himself – to ensure its safety and integrity – the overall design is intended to reflect the shared creative vision of the youth participants and the artist.

Completion of this enterprising, collaborative sculpture will be cause for celebration, and BRAF will hold community events to mark the milestone achievements of the project. These events will showcase local talent and be occasions for the youths’ families, peers, BRAF supporters and Oakland community members to come together to show their appreciation and support for these creative young women.

More information about BRAF and The Bike Bridge is available at www.blackrockarts.org.

About the artist

East Bay resident and artist Michael Christian is uniquely qualified to lead the creative process of this sculpture. With over 20 years of experience creating large-scale metal works of art (some reaching as high as 65 feet, and some weighing several tons) and an extensive catalog of past work of varying forms, techniques and intricacy, Christian is capable of adapting a design to meet the youth participants’ creative vision. Christian’s work relies on the team effort of his crew and volunteers. He sees his work as an opportunity to mentor and educate, and routinely welcomes the participation and input of volunteers, tutoring them in new skills as they contribute to his projects. Christian often exhibits his large-scale works at the Burning Man event and other outdoor festivals, and has contributed a number of public works of art to the San Francisco and East Bay communities.


About the site

The Bike Bridge sculpture is designed to be the centerpiece of the City of Oakland’s new Uptown Merritt Art Park, to be located adjacent to the Fox Theater in the city’s newly revitalized Uptown district. The City of Oakland was also awarded an N.E.A. grant, in the amount of $200,000, a portion of which will fund the development of the new park. Plans pending, The Bike Bridge sculpture will act as a gateway to the park, which will also feature temporary exhibitions of large-scale works of art.

The park’s site is centrally located in the up-and-coming Uptown district of Oakland, a transition zone between East and West Oakland. The sculpture’s form will represent a bridge between adjacent communities with a history of conflict. Furthermore, this project was devised to inspire BRAF supporters and artists in the area to connect and contribute to their immediate neighborhood. In this way, the sculpture is also a metaphor for a “bridge” between BRAF’s base of supporters and the local community.

One of the most ethnically and culturally diverse cities in the country, Oakland is poised to exemplify how the integrated presence of art in a community’s growth can fuel its success and strengthen relationships. BRAF’s leadership feels that it is of utmost importance that a socially and environmentally conscious work of art be a predominant feature of this quickly emerging art scene and metropolitan area. Building The Bike Bridge in this up-and-coming neighborhood will provide the opportunity for new residents and visitors to connect with the existing community, and for young adults in need of support to benefit from the area’s new wealth of business and culture.


About funding

N.E.A.’s grant of $10,000 sets this ambitious project in motion. Fundraising efforts are underway to meet the project’s overall budget of $69,000. Visit www.blackrockarts.org to make a donation.

Images

High-resolution photographs related to The Bike Bridge project are available upon request.

The mission of the Black Rock Arts Foundation is to support and promote community, interactive art and civic participation. A San Francisco-based 501c3 nonprofit organization, BRAF emerged in 2001 with ambitious goals to inspire community and civic participation through art. BRAF promotes and supports free, accessible public art that invites community members to interact directly with the work itself as well as their community at large.

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