Bike
Racks – useable art
Ken Burke
The
village of Peace Dale is once again showing signs of its revitalization through
the installation of several bike racks that were funded through a RI Trails
Advisory Committee grant. The design and fabrication of the bike racks were
customized through artists at The Steel Yard in Olneyville with initial design
direction from local artists Nancy Dean and Rhea del Rosario.
“Peace
Dale is a great little community, steeped in history and a wonderful bike path
that runs alongside the Saugatucket River. I saw an opportunity to enhance the
neighborhood through this RIDEM grant with the artists from The Steel Yard to
create some functional pieces of art”, said Ken Burke, board member at Welcome
House of South County and the Peace Dale Neighborhood Revitalization Inc.
The
bike racks were designed and fabricated by artist Lee Corley, under the
direction of Tim Ferland, Art Production Manager at The Steel Yard.
There are
three designs that for Peace Dale: a locomotive train (installed near the
rotary, harkening back to the days when the Narragansett Pier Railroad roared
over the trestle in Peace Dale), and old-style “penny-farthing” bike (similar
to what you may have seen in the late 1800’s when the Palisades and Peace Dale
mills where in full operations), and a native fish design (reminiscent of the
herring that run through the Saugatucket River).
The final installation of the
bike racks was performed by Town of South Kingstown with a generous donation of
materials from Arnold Lumber. Welcome House acted as the fiduciary for the
grant.
“This
project is a great example of how integral art is to placemaking and to promoting
our environment,” said DEM Director Janet Coit.
“Peace Dale is certainly a special place on our state map and a popular
stop along the South County Bike Path. We
are proud to be a partner in providing convenient ways for people to get
outdoors, get active, and enjoy the state’s recreational treasures such as its
bike and walking paths.”
The
installation of these bike racks is part of a larger initiative to engage the
residents of South County to bike and walk more often and to (re)discover the
beauty that RI has to offer.
On September 12th the Peace Dale
Neighborhood Revitalization Inc. group hosted its first annual Block Party and
cyclovia and boasted 2,000 participants that largely walked or “biked to the
block”. Additional efforts are underway through another grassroots group called
“Healthy Places by Design – Bike & Walk Committee” who recently applied to
The League of American Bicyclists and achieved an honorable mention designation
for South Kingstown as a “bike friendly community”.