Oak Forest HS Art Club Participates in 'Bike Whatcha Like' Program

Oak Forest High School's Art Club recently participated in the City of Oak Forest Street Art Committee's "Bike Whatcha Like" Program. Area artists worked to transform used bikes into works of art and they are now on display through October on Cicero Avenue.

Abby Bronner and Ellen Kempski with assistance from Kaitlyn Alejandro, Kirmi Patel, Aubrey Herron, Haileigh Kemnic and Eddie Binol started their project after signing up to participate last spring. The students designed and transformed the bike into a mobile sculpture. Not having been given and specific theme, they decided to make a bike that represented the purity of creativity.

The idea behind the design was to transform the rigid, steel frame of the bike into swirling, three dimensional brushstrokes of paint. Visually, this created a flowing, free-form movement even when the bike is still. (The bike is still ride-able, although the brakes no longer function.)

The structure of the "paint strokes" was made with an armature of wires that were then covered in plaster gauze. The hardened gauze was then coated in mixed plaster to smooth it out. Art teacher Dan Chambers said, "This process turned out to be a lot of fun because the bike became truly sculptural, even though it was originally intended only to be symbolic of the creative process." The students finished by painting it in a full palette of blended acrylic colors.

This is the second Oak Forest-sponsored public art project that Oak Forest High School students have participated in; the first being the "Opportunity Knocks" doors from two summers ago.