The Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture division recently announced that it is searching for artists to paint bike racks at community centers around town. The artist application will close on Monday, March 7, at 5 p.m.
Selected artists will paint either a set of four U-shaped bike racks or a set of eight. The stipend for the artists will be $1,150 for the four racks and $2,300 for the eight racks.
Steve Wright, Chapel Hill public art coordinator, said the bike racks are located at the Homestead Aquatic Center and Chapel Hill Community Center.
Wright said the idea for the project has been in the works since the fall. He also said the project is a celebration of May as National Bike Month. The goal of the project is both to give the town character through the art and to promote alternative modes of transportation.
“It’s a little bit of beautification, but then also calling attention to positive sustainability practices that we'd like to encourage throughout the town,” Wright said.
This bike rack art project is the latest of public arts projects Chapel Hill and Carrboro have debuted over the last year. Public art can also be seen in murals on public buildings and local businesses, in bus shelters and on transit buses.
Community Arts & Culture is also planning for artists to paint sidewalk murals around storm drains to call attention to good stormwater practices.
“Pretty much anywhere there's some infrastructure that we can get some public art on, we would love to do it,” Wright said.
Artists applying to paint the bike racks must reside within a 40-mile radius of Chapel Hill. This requirement is in place due to both practicality and a desire to support local artists, Wright said.
