So long to a dear friend and collaborator

Brett Hunter passed away on October 28, 2022. With his passing, Like Riding a Bicycle is on indefinite hiatus. While I am unsure if I will be able to continue the work we built together, I am proud of the time we spent honing our collaborative practice to work with community organizations, to support development of infrastructure projects, and to create art installations devoted to telling stories and learning from and alongside each other. In the spirit of our work, I will never forget the lessons we learned together or the folks we worked with along the way. 

I am grateful to have known Brett for so long and to have been able to work closely with him, and I know he would want our tools and projects out in the world however they could be of use. If you’re curious about a past publication, if you’d like to borrow a tool for community engagement, or if you’d like support with your own creative engagement project, please feel free to reach out. 

-Katie

Brett teaching Ken and Jaylan how to record interviews while we worked with the Heights CDC in 2018.

Feedback Chalkboards at the Chattanooga Chattown Skatepark

Last year, Katie started working as a Creative Strategist for the city of Chattanooga right as COVID started. That has made getting out an engaging with the public much more complicated, and it has delayed many development projects, including the skatepark. Recently, as a way to engage people safely and with social distancing as a priority, Katie installed some feedback chalkboards at the existing skatepark. Before she even left the site, people were following the QR code to take a survey and sharing their thoughts about features they wanted at a new facility.

We like chalkboards because they are easy to make and maintain, and it is much more publicly visible than an online survey—everyone else sees the responses and that might help spark other ideas or thoughts. These have been up a few months now and they’re still getting used, which is great!

Providence Streets Coalition Delivery

We were able to deliver a new public engagement setup to the Providence Streets Coalitions this week. We designed and created a multi-panel bike trailer that acts as a visualization, allowing participants to share their thoughts about what they want from Providence as a whole and to see how Complete Streets can be a part of this vision. In addition to informational banners, these trailers carry six panels that focus on what Providence was, is, and will be (with Complete Streets), a bike rack that holds information, a custom made tabling setup, and custom race bibs that allow participants to share their vision for Providence. Being bike mobile will allow the PSC to create engagement moments on the fly. We look forward to seeing this project in use on the streets of Providence.

Creative Strategist.

Katie was selected by Public Art Chattanooga as one of six Creative Strategists working closely with city departments and residents to develop a community vision for public art. Katie will be working with Open Spaces creating public engagement programing and public art planning for the new City Center Skatepark project. Stay tuned as the project develops over the summer and fall.

Providence Streets Coalition

We are starting another project with a People for Bikes supported city. This time we are working with Providence Streets Coalition, and will be design a series of bike trailers, banners, and tabling setup for their public engagement programing. Stay tuned for more as this project comes together this summer.

NOLA Complete Streets

Through a connection with People for Bikes, we were invited to work with NOLA Complete Streets to design public engagement methods and materials to help them inform their communities about Complete Streets planning and implementation in New Orleans. The focus of their public engagement are the numerous festivals and events that happen throughout the year in New Orleans and based around the 10 x 10 tents that are commonly used at these events. With the goal of creating a quick, fun, multi-level engagement that would allow participants to actively embody elements of Complete Streets redesign, we designed a created a Complete Streets Photobooth. We created large scale backdrops that featured annotated images of NOLA street before and after redesign, a series of custom props that allow participants to compose scenes, and informational text components integrated into the interaction, so that participants can gather information throughout the activity. Instead of a flier which might be thrown away, the annotated backdrops and prop tags introduce Complete Streets ideas by interacting with the choices participants make in composing their photographs. The props include item like a roll out bike lane, custom street signs, costume elements, and symbolic objects that offer both visuals to enhance participant’s photographs and additional information on each of the Complete Streets elements. Each of the props includes a tag that gives a brief explanation of the prop and how it relates to complete street redesign.

New York State SIAT

As a part of the Hornell Downtown Revitalization Initiative, Brett was selected to be a part of the Regional Economic Development Council’s presentation to the New York State Strategic Implementation Assessment Team (SIAT). Informing state officials how downtown revitalization in Hornell will be a part of larger regional economic development.

Downtown Revitalization Tour

Last month, Hornell, NY was selected as the recipient of a 10 million-dollar New York State Downtown Revitalization Grant. Brett was a part of a group of city officials and community members giving a downtown tour to NYS officials as the planning process starts. Brett was also selected as a member of the 13-member Local Planning Committee that will determine what projects and initiatives will be put forward for funding.

Hornell, NY Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

Earlier this summer, Brett was a part of a team of city officials and community members that developed and designed a proposal for a New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative.  The proposal was selected as one of three finalists, and Hornell moved to the next phase of the process. The team selected Brett to officially present the proposal to the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council, where one of the three Cities will be chosen for funding.

The 3' law

Every once in a while, we decide to make what we call a “curious object.” We like these type of engagements because they are quick, they are absurd ways to highlight real concerns that face cyclists, and they get the attention of drivers. In this instance, we used a hack that fellow cyclists kept sending us (connecting a pool noodle to your back rack to create a physical barrier between yourself and the cars passing you) and took it to the extreme. This version has a copy of the Tennessee 3’ law printed on it so that drivers might learn about the law as they pass.

In Good Company

We were recently included in the “In Good Company” exhibition at the Fosdick Nelson gallery. This exhibition featured work by artists and educators that have been a part of the First Year Foundations program at the School of Art and Design at Alfred University. This was also a great opportunity to create a new bike based radio station and combine it with interview workshops and a gallery installation. We conducted interview workshops with Foundations students and they recorded interviews with each other about significant experiences they have with learning and teaching. These interviews were then broadcast throughout the exhibition on the radio from the new bike rack radio station.

 *This opportunity is made possible in part by the Artist Development grant program administered by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes and funded by the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, Inc. 

Bike Nerds Podcast

We were invited to be on the Bike Nerds podcast to talk about our practice! In case you are not familiar with Bike Nerds, it is run by Sara Studdard, the Community Engagement and Marketing Director for Explore Bike Share in Memphis, and Kyle Wagenschutz from People for Bikes. We were so honored to be included in their stellar line-up, which has included cycling advocates from all around the country.

Listen Here.

Art Place America

We are excited to contribute a post to the Art Place America Blog, titled “The Place is Already Made.” The post outlines various aspects of our working methodology and gives specific examples from our work with the Heights Line in Memphis, TN. We are honored to be included in this hub of knowledge on creative engagement.

Art Chatter

As a part of our work with Wabash Valley Art Spaces on the Turn to the River project, we were invited to present at Art Chatter, an ongoing series of artist lectures at local pubs.

Learn more about Wabash Valley Art Spaces here.

Youth Garden Project Labyrinth

While in Utah working on our Labyrinth at Epicenter, Katie got to spend time with the Youth Garden Project in Moab. Rachael, local 8th grader who also serves as a garden ambassador, helped Katie to install a mini labyrinth throughout the gorgeous garden beds. Such a great day, and it was an honor to bring our work to another community project.

Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit - Beyond Big Cities

The National Consortium on Creative Placemaking hosted a Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit in Chattanooga. We were invited to share our work and suggestions for best practices in regards to working with (and supporting) both artists and the communities in which you are encouraging them to visit.

Learn more here.

League of American Cyclist Certified Cycling Instructor training

This week Katie joined a group of cycling enthusiasts and advocates from around the Southeast to become a LCI, or a League of American Cyclists League Certified Instructor. Katie had a series of on and off-bike tests as well as discussions about how cycling and proper cycling instruction can improve the fabric of our cities. The League of American Cyclists focuses on vehicular cycling, where cyclists assert themselves and follow the rules of the road like any other vehicle (truck, car, bus). It is way safer and a part of an ongoing culture shift. One of the benefits of this training is that Katie can now lead group rides throughout the country with the backing of the League. Pretty empowering!

Tennessee Bike Summit

We spoke about our projects at the Tennessee Bike Summit. It was a pleasure to get to know Memphis a bit and to learn about other cycling advocacy work that is happening across the state, but we think it is safe to say we were the only socially engaged artists in attendance.

Take a look at our slide deck here.

Mountain Gallery

Our book series How Not What, is a part of the Like Oxygen exhibition at MOUNTAIN gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn. On view April 29th- May 27th, 2017, the exhibition explores the creative and cultural sustenance provided by artist conversations and interviews. We are excited to have our work in conversation with publications and podcasts by Bad at Sports, The Conversation, Sound & Vision, George Terry, and Allison Wade.

Epicenter Summer Summit

We visited Epicenter in Green River, UT for a convening of artists, designers, and architects to talk about each of our individual practices. Our presentation focused on both our collaborative work and our individual artistic practices. We were excited to get to visit Epicenter, and while we were there, we interviewed Maria Sykes (Epicenter Executive Director) for an upcoming book project. We are so impressed with what Epicenter does, and this summit was no exception. They stressed the importance of being respectful to the community while at a conference, and attendees even did small service projects alongside GRIT (Green River Improvement Team).