BALLARAT Art Bikes is an initiative of the City of Ballarat that merges sport with the municipality\u2019s Creative City Strategy.<\/p>\n
The artworks are made from recycled and upcycled materials sourced from the Ballarat\u2019s YMCA ReCrancked program and now they have rehomed at the Back Space Gallery.<\/p>\n
Six local artists were commissioned by council to create 12 bikes, one by each artist and one in conjunction with a community group.<\/p>\n
All 12 bikes started life on Sturt Street as artistic signposts for the 2019 FedUni Road National Championships which transformed the street into the circuit for the criterium races.<\/p>\n
Now in the gallery\u2019s small white space the base colours, pre-determined by council to match in with the Road Nats coveted green and gold, compete with adornments of pinks, purples and blues vibrating on the artist\u2019s bikes.<\/p>\n
Papier m\u00e2ch\u00e9 dogs sit on bike seats and in baskets on Maggie Dannatt\u2019s Art dog\u2019s bike.<\/p>\n
Melinda Muscat, who co-ordinated the exhibition, describes her Florart bike as a bower bird effort festooned with happy flowers, fruit and bits and bobs.<\/p>\n
The monstrous giraffe bike created by Zlatko Balazic and the kids group he helped only just fits in the gallery\u2019s far left corner.<\/p>\n
CDs emblazoned with gold studs cover the wheels of the CMY \u2013 Centre for Multi-Cultural Youth – co-creation with Miss Muscat.<\/p>\n
A team of size and seven-year-olds from Alfredton Primary School after school care fastened colourful whirligigs to embellish the bike they worked on with artist Robert Ramsay.<\/p>\n
The exhibition is open Thursday to Sunday 12pm to 4pm until Sunday, 27 January.<\/p>\n
The bikes will be then be displayed at the Ballarat Cycle Classic \u2013 a fundraiser for the Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute \u2013 on Sunday, 17 February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BALLARAT Art Bikes is an initiative of the City of Ballarat that merges sport with the municipality\u2019s Creative City Strategy. The artworks are made from recycled and upcycled materials sourced from the Ballarat\u2019s YMCA ReCrancked program and now they have rehomed at the Back Space Gallery. Six local artists were commissioned by council to create […]<\/p>\n