Old Town and Mid-MEAC to host Scrappy Bike Rack event with $10K grant

Two area non-profits dedicated to making life in Lansing even better have joined forces on a project to make the city more beautiful, bike-friendly, and for one very exciting weekend, even more fun. The Old Town Commercial Association’s popular Scrapfest will have a new twist this year with a display of nine new bike racks made by teams of area artists from scrap metal that will then be installed around the city.

 

“The teams did submit their drawings in advance, so we have some that I think will be a really fun,” says OTCA Executive Director Louise Gradwohl.

 

OTCA and the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council received a $10,000 “Sense of Place in the Arts” grant from the Lansing Economic Development Corporation and the Arts Council of Greater Lansing for the event that’s being called the “Scrappy Bike Rack Project.” The goal of the project is to promote public art, scrap metal recycling, bicycling and placemaking. Participants include metal artists, as well as art and welding students at Lansing Community College.

 

“Julie Powers [of Mid-MEAC] came across the grant over a year ago,” says Gradwohl. “We decided at the end of December to launch it during Scrapfest when we already had metal arts on display.” 

 

The artistic bike racks will be completed by Friday, June 22, when they will be judged to determine if the bike racks are in compliance with the Scrappy Bike Rack Project’s rules and regulations. Racks that meet all requirements will be installed at Potter Park Zoo, Impression 5 Science Center, Lansing City Market and Old Town.