Dear Community,
Hello again! We’re excited to share some updates since our last letter in May. Over the past few months, our team has been focused on the art side of the Art on Wheels project, while our bicycle racks are in the final stages of fabrication with HydroBlade.
This summer, we received valuable help from the Acadiana Center for the Arts (ACA) in developing the Call for Artists guidelines and form, which we published soon after. We’re grateful to the ACA staff for their assistance and for organizing a table for us at ArtWalk on August 9th to promote the Call for Artists. Beyond ArtWalk, we’ve distributed flyers across the community—posting them in coffee shops, art studios, bicycle shops, downtown businesses, Super One Foods, and more. A heartfelt thank-you to all the supportive community members and businesses who helped us spread the word!
The Call for Artists opened on August 1 and will remain open until September 15. Between October 1–22, the two selected artists will paint the bicycle racks. In November—exactly one year after Art on Wheels received funding from the 24-Hour Citizen Project—we’ll install the finished racks and celebrate with a ribbon cutting and a group bicycle ride.
Our next steps include building a panel of judges to review the designs. We will finalize our list of approved weather-resistant paints suitable for painting on metal and select a primer and sealer that will be provided to the artists. We are also in the beginning stages of planning the ribbon-cutting event. We have finalized installation details with the 811 OneCalls and plan to install the painted racks on a Saturday in November with our installers. We are planning to finalize the ribbon-cutting details, group ride route, and the date and time of the installation in September. In the meantime, we can’t wait to see the designs submitted!
If you are an artist, we invite you to submit a design with the Call for Artists Form. Artists of any age and skill level are encouraged to apply. If you’re interested in a Bike Rack Art Mural for your business, we invite you to fill out the Interest Form. Stay tuned to our social media pages on Facebook and Instagram for more project updates as we try to create a more colorful, bike-friendly community here in Lafayette!
Sincerely,
Blair Begnaud, Gabe Griffard, and Matthew Dufrene
Team Art on Wheels
artonwheelslafayette@gmail.com