BFK’s Role In Public Art

Bike Friendly Kalamazoo supports the use of public art to encourage ridership, increase public safety awareness, enhance visual experiences and to build community.

From “Swoosh” by Michelle Nobles: 2020 Competition 1st Place Award

Virtual Galleries
These virtual galleries celebrate the artists and their works.  They also provide a deeper sense of our vision.  Please browse!
– 2023 – Public Mural – Kalamazoo – 1122 Portage Street
– 2022 – Public Mural – Portage – 7809 Lovers Lane
– 2021 – Public Bike Art Competition Awards – Lamp pole banners
– 2020 – Public Bike Art Competition Awards – Lamp pole banners

Current Focus: Public Murals
We are currently supporting public art through the creation and celebration of public murals expressing the joys of bicycling. Other forms of art may also be supported through BFK’s Bike Booster Mini-Grant program. Think of our effort as an ongoing “bike mural festival” of sorts, due to our aim to bring about as many public murals as the community can support — that express the joys of bicycling — throughout greater Kalamazoo. The community building activities surrounding their creation are exciting and festive occasions.

Read on to learn more about the general process we will be following, about our Art Committee and for additional background.

Process Outline
Bike Friendly Kalamazoo’s Art Committee and Board will be following these general steps to advance this unique opportunity to build community and further enrich our culture.

  1. Informal communication of potential mural sites to our Art Committee. Our eyes and ears are open! Ideas can come from Art Committee members, the greater community or site owners.
  2. Informal discussion with authorized site representative. An Art Committee member may start these discussions or a site representative may approach BFK. Either way is fine!
  3. Site representative confirms initial interest in principle via written intent conveyed to our Art Committee in a letter or via email. This informal initial statement need only: a) relay owner contact information and the property address; b) an affirmation of ownership; and, c) quantify the site’s financial contribution to the project, if applicable.
  4. Art Committee reviews interest; conveys recommendation to BFK’s Directors.
  5. Written Agreements & Permissions: BFK obtains the necessary written agreements with funders, site representatives, artists, municipalities and other parties of interest. These steps occur in parallel or in sequence as sites are lined up in each year, funding is secured, muralists are engaged, permits applied for, designs are approved, etc.  Our intent is to develop a pool of viable sites and designs so that even if a particular site or design is not implemented in a given year, they will be considered in subsequent years.
  6. Implementation, Community Engagement and Celebration. These steps will naturally unfold as the mural is created, the community is invited to participate in events surrounding its creation and when progress is celebrated in September during BFK’s Fall Bike Celebration!


BFK’s Art Committee
BFK’s Art Committee is chaired by Patrick Jouppi, who also chairs the Kalamazoo County Public Art Commission. Members of BFK’s Art Committee are volunteers from a number of municipalities and include experienced muralists. The committee’s work is anticipated to be strategic and ongoing in that opportunities to enrich our community’s culture and enhance our trails and bikeways will stretch on into the future.  

Background
Placemaking has been defined as a collaborative process for working together to shape our public realm, strengthening the connection between people and the places they share. Public murals have long been recognized for their ability to enhance public spaces.

Bike Friendly Kalamazoo believes in the power of improving the quality of life and building community through bicycling. Since 2022 we have been focusing on public murals that express the joys of bicycling as part of our ongoing placemaking effort.  Other forms of art may be considered, as well.

We are in this together. Over the coming year BFK intends to recognize the communities, sponsors and individuals who are working to make these joyous public expressions a reality. We will also be shining a spotlight on the muralists and completed works of art at key points along the journey.

We anticipate announcing key project milestones each year, for example during Kalamazoo Area Bike Week, and will involve the community as we highlight creation of the murals throughout the spring and summer. As we mentioned above, the entire effort will typically culminate with additional recognition during our Fall Bike Celebration Weekend during the third weekend in September of each year.

With your help we can bring a little more joy, and a feeling of festive lightness, into our hearts, brightening the corner in which we live.

We invite private property owners, municipalities, patrons of public art, civic leaders — and all those interested in improving the quality of life in our community — to watch this space for unfolding details.

Please share your ideas for mural sites, artists and financial support using our Contact Us page.

In the meantime, thank you for everything you are doing to help make our greater community even more bicycle friendly!

Learn more about Bike Friendly Kalamazoo’s Goals and Programs here.

Please like and follow our Facebook pages @bikefriendlykalamazoo, @kalamazoobikeweek, @fallbikecelebration, and on the web at www.bikefriendlykalamazoo.org, www.kalamazoobikeweek.org and www.fallbikecelebration.org.

Historic footnote. In 2019-2021 BFK’s Public Bike Art Competition entries were judged on the basis of predetermined first-second-third place cash awards for public art focused on outdoor banners to be mounted on street lamps.  Production of our virtual galleries began in 2020. Unlike our competitions in 2019-2021, BFK’s public mural program involves the creation of works for hire (versus presenting monetary awards to 1st-3th place recipients, Honorable Mentions and President’s Awards.

Great thanks to our supporting institutions, corporate sponsors and Friends of BFK.
We will forever be grateful to The Vicksburg Foundation for its role in making our early bike banner competitions possible.  Our public murals have been made possible by the generous support of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, the Michigan Council of Arts and Culture, Clark Logic, the Jim Gilmore, Jr. Foundation, the Edison Neighborhood Association and the Friends of BFK.