We were certainly excited to roll out our new logo at the 2013 National Bike Summit earlier this year. Honoring our past and looking to the future, we love the iconic energy of the modern winged wheel. But we didn’t imagine that our new logo would so quickly inspire a beautiful piece of public art.
Lori Schanche isn’t just the bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for the City of Anchorage, Alaska — she’s also quite the artist. So, when the city moved up to Silver in this latest round of Bicycle Friendly Community awards, she wanted to make the Bike Month announcement more than just another boring photo-op. So she and Anne Schlapia from the city’s environmental services department started brainstorming ideas for the presentation.
The result: A homemade, bicycle-friendly sculpture.
“I’ve done other art before, and the wheel won out since it’s such a cool logo,” Schanche says. “A local bike shop donated the wheel, and the father of one of my staff helped by taking out the guts and adding the attachment and pole. I cut the wings out of tin flashing and my husband punched holes in them. Then I drew the black on with a really thick marker and tied them on with fishing line. I can also remove the pole and hang it on the wall!”
The winged wheel against the backdrop of the soaring mountains? What a sight to behold!
