In spite of the rain sprinkles, the kids had a blast showing off their bikes to the comments and cheers of curious park visitors. Lexi Buckner proudly displayed her Dia de los Muertos style “Skull Bike,” complete with a skull helmet to match.

Meanwhile Eve McClure created a sparkly-pink “Ladybug Bike” with 7″ records attached to the wings as the spots. Eve was headed to a 50-year family reunion directly following Saturday’s picnic, and her grandfather confirmed that “Ladybug” has been Eve’s family nickname for years.

Coreyun Richardson created a swivel “Race Car Bike” that’s particularly tricky to maneuver, although he makes it look easy. Because he wasn’t able to come out to the ride on Saturday, he received his certificate the next week in front of his fellow campers at the East Chattanooga YFD Center.

Thanks to committed donors and the time investment from Art 120’s caring and talented instructors, Urban Art Bike Camp accomplished its two biggest goals:

1. Exposing a new generation of local youth to the fun and challenge of safely using professional welding tools to construct original Art Bike designs.

2. Creating three new Art Bikes for Art 120’s fleet of whimsical bikes to be ridden during this year’s Glass Street LIVE parade on October 8 as the finale event for City Celebration. 

In addition to those outcomes, the site selection–partnering with East Chattanooga YFD Center– provided campers there with unique exposure and proximity to the welding and design work underway. Mr. Drake, director of East Chatt YFD, was very pleased with the respect shown to the space and the artistic element the team brought to the regular pace of summer camp. “It was very exciting to watch the bikes take shape and see the dedication the kids put into the process. I think it’s really neat what they set up, and I know they’re all enjoying it so much,” Mr. Drake said last week.

When Outdoor Chattanooga came to provide a bike safety rodeo for the students, Kate improvised with Mr. Drake so all the kids at East Chatt YFD Center’s camp learned bike safety that day. As for the next steps, the bikes have generated anticipation for the upcoming Glass Street LIVE block party this fall, and several local youth at the East Chatt YFD Center like Kadesha Cook remembered building puppets for last year’s parade, and are eager to try their skills out on the bikes this time around.

Kate Warren, director of Art 120 says, “While only our campers had access to power tools and welding, the youth at the Rec Center crowded around our teachers as they taught students how to change a tire and replace a bicycle chain. By the second week, Coreyun was able to ride his special hinge bike and everyone at the Rec Center cheered him on and took turns riding. Now we have a lot of kids that want to build an art bike too.”

Check out video footage including interviews with the participants on our YouTube channel HERE.

Click HERE to sponsor a kid to participate in the Urban Art Bike Camp. We appreciate the support and thank you for helping us reach our $2,000 fundraiser goal!

Glass House Collective has recruited Art 120’s 2017 Urban Art Bike Camp to the East Chatt YFD Center. The camp will empower local youth to design and create welded art bikes to ride in the Glass Street LIVE block party parade, the grand finale event of City Celebration, a city-wide progressive bike party directed by Shannon Burke on October 8.

Art 120, under the direction of Kate Warren, has experienced challenges following the devastating fire at their former maker space, so when we approached her with the idea of returning to the Glass Farm neighborhood, she stepped up with enthusiasm! (See the Art 120 YouTube video link HERE) We’re so glad that Mr. Drake, director of the East Chatt YFD Center, was so supportive of the idea, as the center provides an ideal temporary home base this summer. We’re enthusiastic about local kids here on Glass Street gaining access to welding and artistic design experience, within walking distance of their own homes!

Warren kicked things off this week (June 26-30) with the Teacher Training followed by the 2 week camp program (July 3-14), in which campers will be expected to commit and follow-through with learning the techniques and carrying out their plan to create the bikes they draft and imagine, all within a slim operating budget. In order to recruit and fund 12 campers, Glass House Collective has assisted with outreach and facilitated planning meetings in order to generate our creative partnerships in this neighborhood (Art 120 + East Chatt YFD Center). As a final celebration, campers will head to Coolidge Park for a showcase of their bikes and presentation of certificates in front of family and friends on July 15.

By the end of Urban Art Bike Camp, a fleet of 3 new sculptural art bikes will be ready to pedal down Glass Street as a part of the Glass Street LIVE parade on October 8, showcasing the artistic talent of local East Chattanooga youth. Shannon Burke’s Ciclovia City Celebration biking event to highlight various Chattanooga neighborhoods is exciting, and we’re proud that Glass Street LIVE is the finale block party of the whole day! Working together, we also recognized an opportunity and need to bolster local kids’ cycling experience and ownership so that they feel truly included. By building their own creations with Art120, Glass Farm neighborhood youth can take pride in pairing their welding skills with bike safety experience.

As Warren recalls, “The kids who made bikes here on Glass Street in 2012 still carry those skills and memories. This is a neighborhood bursting with creativity. We’re excited to be pumping new life back into the Urban Art Bike initiative, partnering with Glass House Collective to discover what a whole new set of 11-14 year-olds here can dream up and create.”

Again, you can click HERE to sponsor a camper! Give a local Glass Farm neighborhood kid the full Urban Art Bike Camp experience! Help us meet our $2,000 contribution goal! Your contribution makes a huge difference– Thank you!