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Zane Parks and his 11-year-old son Ethan are involved in a lot of hobbies together.
So when they learned about an opportunity to design a bicycle for the Lincoln Arts Council's "Tour de Lincoln" public art project, the father-and-son team decided to give it a try.
But the duo, and other aspiring "Tour de Lincoln" artists, needed the help of a welding class at Southeast Community College.
Like 108 other Lincoln artists and residents, the Parks' worked their tandem creative magic on a maquette, a miniature cardboard model, last year. Designs for 203 bikes were entered; 147 were chosen as potential pieces of the project and put on display for sponsorship.
The "Flat Man Bicycle Band" created by the Parks' was one of those selected.
When Smith Hayes Financial Services Co. asked to sponsor the transformation of their maquette into a full-scale bike, the Parks' found they'd taken on a complex task. The steel bike sculptures were built for the artists by industrial machine specialists, but any extra metalwork or additional pieces were left up to the artists themselves.
In the case of the Parks' design, figures of musicians playing instruments needed to be cut from sheets of metal. Those pieces were then bent, twisted and welded into place, all before any priming, sealing or painting could be done to the bike. So the Parks' enlisted the help of Shannon J. Hansen, a welding instructor at Southeast Community College's Milford campus. Hansen, who had entered his own designs in the project and had begun work on one that attracted a sponsor, offered his services and those of his welding students to "Tour de Lincoln." Hansen integrated the cutting, welding and grinding of extra materials for the project into his welding technology class. He said he volunteered the help of the class to other artists because he saw an opportunity for them and for his students. "Some artists were not familiar working with a metal medium, so it made sense for us to become involved to help them," Hansen said. "And it's a once in a lifetime experience for the students to work on a project like 'Tour de Lincoln.'" Hansen and his students cut metal figures and instruments for the Parks' bike, then followed father-and-son instructions on where to weld and how to bend each musician. "We wanted to make sure we were there for the bending and placement of each part so they would end up the way my son and I designed them," Parks said.
Now that their sculpture is finished, Parks and his son are ready to begin painting the musicians and their bicycle. Clarisse Hastie, another Lincoln artist assisted by Hansen, just began the painting process in her living room. "The bike is too big for my studio," she said, "so I have to paint whenever there's sunlight coming in my window." Her design included a red frame and bright, flowered wheels. She needed Hansen's class to cut out a steel cat, which she painted black and white, and welded to the front wheel of the bike. In all, Hansen's classes worked on eight bikes for five artists. One of those artists was Liz Shea-McCoy, Lincoln Arts Council president and "Tour de Lincoln" chairwoman. Each of Shea-McCoy's three sponsored designs featured multiple figures that had to be cut, bent and welded. Metal children cluster about the first, energetic figures dance on another and spider monkeys leap around a third. "We're still working on the jumping monkeys," Hansen said. Shea-McCoy said the work of turning the maquettes into actual sculptures has knitted the participating artists into a family. "We're all in the trenches together," she said. A total of 71 bikes were selected for sponsorship by businesses and private citizens who will pay the $3,000 cost of turning the artist's vision into a life-size steel figure. Al Moore, president of Smith Hayes Financial, said his business chose to sponsor a piece of the project for several reasons. "It's a great way to support the arts in the community," Moore said, "coupled with the fact that it's a fun project that's very high profile and supports Lincoln's trails system." Dan Sloan, co-owner of The Mill, said he and his two business partners were drawn to the project to support the art community, and its focus on bikes was an added bonus. "The Mill started in the corner of a bike shop 25 years ago, and all three of us worked there," Sloan said. "So we felt a connection to the project." The owners of The Mill selected Shea-McCoy's "On the Trail of Evolution" for their sponsorship. When the bikes are finished this spring, they will be placed around Lincoln at sites chosen by the sponsoring businesses or individuals. Moore said the bike designed by the Parks' would stand outside Smith Hayes Financial, which was why their particular design was chosen. "We looked for one that was kind of funky and fun so it would look neat in front of our building, which is kind of funky itself," he said. An opening ceremony for "Tour de Lincoln" is scheduled for May 1 at Folsom Children's Zoo, 1222 S. 27th St. The bikes will remain on display around Lincoln until Oct. 3. Then they will be auctioned to the public at Haymarket Park, with proceeds benefiting the artists, qualifying arts organizations and the Lincoln Arts Council. The idea for "Tour de Lincoln" came from similar public art works like Chicago's "Cows on Parade," which featured artist-decorated cows and Omaha's "J. Doe" project, where local artists painted human figures. When coordinating the project, the Lincoln Arts Council chose bikes because of the Star City's nationally known system of bike trails.Comments
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