We are so excited to begin our work outdoors in communities around the Halifax area! Here is our schedule for the first few weeks of July! The remaining July/August dates will be posted once they have been confirmed. Please reach out to us on our blog or social media accounts if you have ideas, comments, or questions and check for any updates if the weather isn't cooperative!
Art Bikers first visit of 2018 to Ardmore Park!
Saturday, June 30th from 12:00 - 4:00 Art Bikers will visit Ardmore Park to meet local families and begin repairing the Silly Faces fence! We'll bring paint, brushes, and all the materials needed to freshen up the art along the fence that has been made over the last few summers. Meet the full Art Bikers Team, share your art ideas for the park and help make the fence fresh and bright!
Isleville Post!
Preparations are underway for Art Biker's contribution to the North End Community Circle's annual BBQ - a big, all-ages gathering of folks from the north end of Halifax. This year, we are bringing to the Isleville Park a collection of trailers filled with supplies for creating a pop-up post card shop!
Look for the Isleville Post sign, post card writing booth, and letter carriers with their mail satchels throughout Isleville Park in Halifax from 4-6pm on June 20th. The whole event is free, there will hot food on the BBQ, fresh watermelon and lots of community members there to celebrate! Send a friend or neighbour a postcard during the event!
This project is inspired by City Mail, a unique art project by Alison Creba and friends, where letters were shared with recipients throughout Halifax and beyond through DIY delivery systems. Fun fact: Alison Creba was also an Art Biker!
Brainstorming Session at The Green in Fairview!
The Art Bikers will be at The Green - a special gathering space for many children and community folks in Fairview at the end of Randall Ave - on Saturday, June 16th from 11:30-2:30 for this season's very first brainstorming session!
Art Biker Devon is holding up a giant scroll that we will use to keep track of all the great ideas! Write, draw, doodle and share your art ideas with us so we can plan our dates and projects together!
Cyclozoatrope Pop Up on the Halifax Commons!
Cyclozoatrope making in the Halifax Commons (by the Oval) as part of Bike Week! Join Art Bikers and play with colour and animated possibilities on your bike and in the Spiral Garden!
Pop up from 4-7pm, then popcorn and a movie as part of Halifax Bike Week! We would love to see you there!
Sculpture Factory at Switch Dartmouth!
More than 200+ participants were eager to do their shift at Shift Factory – a collaborative station-based sculpture project – alongside the Art Bikers on a windy Sunday in celebration of Switch Dartmouth. Families and children worked at crafting brightly coloured felt balls connected with long tubes throughout the busy afternoon to create an evolving sculpture!
The first task was to collect a lanyard, draw your picture and add your name to an ID tag, and get signed in for a shift. A highlight was a child who rushed up to Art Biker Devon and exclaimed,
“This is my first shift! I’ve never had a job before!”
Next came the task of wet felting in the wind! The process of wet felting is exciting because it involves soaking colourful dyed wool with soapy water, massaging it for about 5 minutes so individual fibres stick together, and then tahhh-dahhhh: a felted ball!
Many children tried wet felting for the very first time!
Next was the rinse bucket and the exciting salad-spinner drying station to remove excess water. A few towels helped dry off the balls before they were delivered to the crew making the growing sculpture out of tubes and felted balls.
Parents and children worked together to make more than 100 balls!
The added challenge of building out in the elements meant that teamwork – and lots of emergency hockey tape – was needed, but over the course of the day the sculpture grew and changed form thanks to many children and families!
Our first event is: Switch Dartmouth!
Switch Dartmouth!
Join Art Bikers for their first outdoor event of the season: Switch Dartmouth!
We are so excited to load up the trailers full of art materials and bike across the bridge to Dartmouth! We have been designing and building for the past day or so and we are ready to invite you to: Switch Factory - a sculpture building assembly line involving tubes, tennis balls, elastics and wool! We are excited to build a wild and weird sculpture with you so please join our absurdist assembly line!
This is the 5th year for Switch Dartmouth and Art Bikers are 1 of 100 booths to visit, so it will be a fantastic day!
Time: Noon to 4pm
Date: Sunday, June 3rd
Location: On Portland Street, on the block between King and Wentworth
Look for our Help Wanted signs and Art Bikers t-shirts!
Free Time and You!
On June 1st, Art Bikers connected with adults and seniors through an opportunity with The Community Health Team (CHT). CHT focuses on the promotion of health and wellness and help individuals and families to build knowledge, confidence, and skills to make healthy lifestyle choices. This session called “Free Time and You: Try Something New” was designed to introduce community members to Wonder’neath as a resource for art making explorations and social interaction. Art Bikers designed and led a session exploring basic book binding and string art design, which also was the focus of our weekend Open Studio drop-in program.
Training also included learning about non-verbal communication from Liliona Quarmyne, a dancer, performer, and Youth Programs Facilitator at YWCA. Liliona led us through theatre games and facilitated discussions about body language, masked emotions, and how we communicate with one another. Here’s a photo of our most experienced Art Biker, Eric, warming up over the campfire after a skit!
Additionally, Art Bikers have been busy finalizing their set up out in the field. Look for these designs and be sure to come and say hi!
More Highlights of 2018 Training!
Cylinder Forest!
Cylinder Forest was a pop up event for babies, toddlers and families at the Khyber Centre of the Arts as part of the experimental music and art festival Obey Convention.
Wonder’neath was invited to participate in a fun annual event called O’Baby and Art Bikers coordinators Melissa and Heather responded with an idea called Cylinder Forest: a play space using only tubes and cylinders. Together with the Art Bikers, they spent time transforming the Khyber space on Barrington Street for more than 80 participants of all ages. There were whisper tubes, test tube babies about to hatch, shadow puppets and even some cylinder creatures that loved adventure but were very shy. The cylinder creatures needed a friend to help them discover the play spaces of Cylinder Forest!
Did you know that as part of their training Art Bikers learn about child development and what to anticipate when working with children of different ages? After spending several hours with young children and their families in the Cylinder Forest, Art Bikers made a list of questions and observations to discuss during the workshop!
Art Bikers Season 12 Training Moments
Young participants engaging with our newest Art Biker during a training session at Wonder'neath's Open Studio.
Art Bikers hone their facilitation skills and support the creative ideas of youth and families during lively drop in sessions that are free to the public!
The whole team works with Art Bikers co-founder to learn about their gifts, talents, and skills and then discusses what we are bringing individually and collectively to communities around Halifax. Beginning our brainstorming session is always a season highlight!
A trip to the storage locker is always part of our preparation: inspecting trailers and bikes, restocking first aid kits, checking supplies... these are some of the specifics that keep us busy before we meet with all of you this summer!
The first ride of the season was to Bayers-Westwood to check on a mural that Art Bikers helped create. It was a gorgeous sunny day and children were eager to inspect the mural with us and share their cartwheels and back flips! Looking forward to returning to this community in the summer.
2018 Art Bikers Team
We are so lucky to have three returning Art Bikers this year - Devon, Eric and Jessica - and we are super excited to welcome Imogen to the team. Training started yesterday with co-coordinators Heather and Melissa at Wonder'neath Art Society, where our studio is located this summer. We are off to a good start and look forward to connecting with you in the community!
Visit here again soon for updates and our schedule.
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2018 Art Bikers Team (Left to right: Standing - Devon and Jessica. Seated - Eric, Imogen, and Terri, guest and Art Bikers co-founder. In front, Heather. And, Melissa, behind the camera.)
2018 Art Bikers Season Starts May 15th!
May 15, 2018 is the first day of the new season! The Art Bikers program will be offered again this year through an agreement with Wonder'neath Art Society. http://www.wonderneath.com/
We are excited to be working with Heather Wilkinson and Melissa Marr as our co-coordinators. Our home-base studio will be located at Wonder'neath at 2891 Isleville Street in Halifax, NS.
Returning Art Bikers this year are Devon, Eric and Jessica - with an additional staff member to be announced soon. We are so excited to see you all again soon!
You can reach us at artbikers@gmail.com for information and follow us on Facebook for updates and schedules.
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/artbikers
Employment Opportunity: Art Bikers 2018
DEADLINE for applications is March 31, 2018.
Riding bicycles and pulling trailers packed with art materials and supplies to locations, the Art Bikers work as a team facilitating free community art activities with children, youth and others at a neighbourhood level throughout HRM.
Art Biker Qualifications:
strong visual arts, craft or theatre skills
experience engaging children, newcomers, and seniors in activities
highly creative, innovative and flexible
solid experience and comfort with urban cycling in traffic and have a hybrid road bike in good working condition
strong legs and ability to pull heavy trailers in all weather
strong collaboration skills as part of a team
available for the entire season from May 15th - August 25th
able to work flexible hours, including weekends and evenings
Ideal Art Biker Candidates also:
have an open personality and excellent people skills
have a playful spirit and abundant energy
have facilitation experience with children/youth/folks across cultures
enjoy working outdoors in all weather conditions and are comfortable in a mixed-use creative workplace
have knowledge of bicycle repair/maintenance
speak a second language
have an interest or experience in community arts facilitation or arts-based community development
Full job description and requirements here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13H14oskr_SvBtTji74a5dSrgR4wt38Tx/view?usp=sharing
We encourage you to read this information before you apply.
We are building a team of four Art Bikers, which may include two positions for returning post-secondary students who qualify for Canada Summer Jobs. Please self-identify if you are applying as a returning post-secondary student.
Employment Terms: Full-time term position starting May 15 and ending August 25, 2018. 35 hours/week @ $16.00/h + $100 bike fee at completion of full term. DEADLINE for applications is March 31, 2018.
How to Apply: Please send your current resume and a cover letter, including three references and their contact information in a single PDF to artbikers@gmail.com with the subject line “Your Name_Art Bikers 2018”. DEADLINE for applications is March 31, 2018.
All email applications will be acknowledged by receipt, however, we will only contact those individuals we wish to interview. Late applications will not be considered. We do not need a curriculum vitae, however if you have a website of your artwork, please include the link. No phone calls please. If you have questions, send an email to info@4csfoundation.com
Now in its 12th year, the Art Bikers is a mobile community arts program of the 4Cs Foundation. This (2018) is the second season where the program is being offered through an agreement with Wonder’neath Art Society. Information about Wonder’neath Art Society can be found here: www.wonderneath.com
The 4Cs Foundation and Wonder’neath Art Society hire on the basis of merit and are committed to employment equity. We encourage all qualified persons to apply and self-identify.
More information about the 4Cs Foundation and the Art Bikers can be found on our website: www.4csfoundation.com and by reading the Art Bikers program blog http://artbikers.blogspot.ca
Last Day Celebration! All welcome!
The Art Bikers program wraps up for the season and participants are invited to come together to watch films created this summer and celebrate our time together this Saturday at Wonder'neath Art Society 2891 Isleville Street from 5 to 7pm. This is a potluck meal and final celebration. All welcome (2nd floor location).
Please bring something to share for our potluck meal if you are able! For more information, email or call: artbikers@gmail.com or 902-454-5781.
Last week of the 2017 season!
We are biking to ISANS Community Garden at 67 Glenforest Drive today and will be there from about 11-3pm!
~ Wednesday is a day of prep/packing up the studio.
~ Thursday, we pop up at Ward 5's Neighbourhood block party (rain or shine) on Russell Street (between Gottingen and Isleville) from 2-4pm.
~ Friday, we have our end of season with a final debrief and packing up the studio for the season. (Not open to the public.)
~ Saturday: join us at Wonder'neath Art Society 2891 Isleville Street in Halifax from 5-7pm for a potluck meal and final celebration. Participants are invited to come together to watch films created this summer and celebrate our time together. Free, all welcome (2nd floor location). Please bring something to share for our meal if you are able! For more information, please email or call: artbikers@gmail.com or 902-454-5781.
Cyanotype Prints!
From our time with the community at Clayton Park Junior High - some human body size cyanotype prints! Participants placed their bodies, leaves, natural materials, and found objects across big prepared sheets. Amazing results!
Cyanotype Printmaking today!
Today from 12-3 pm with the Art Bikers make lifesize cyantotype portraits. Meet us in front of Clayton Park Junior High to play with light and silhouettes!
Art Bikers in Clayton Park this week! August 15, August 17, August 18th
The Art Bikers will be in Clayton Park all this week! Join us from 11:30am-2:30pm Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Details below.
Tuesday (15th) Clayton Park Junior High (in front, green area)
Brainstorming, gathering ideas for activities.
Wednesday (16th) We are back at the studio to prepare materials.
Thursday (17th) Clayton Park Junior High (in front, green area)
We are back to work with you on creative art-making based on the ideas from Monday!
Friday, August 18th - Clayton Park Junior High (in front, green area)
Final day of creative art-making based on the ideas from Monday!
Soft Sculptures
Children at "the Green" made wonderful drawings that we then sewed into soft sculptures. They will be used for today's film shoot!
Cranky Theatre Story Characters
"Cranky theatre" (the hand cranked theatre built with children at "the Green" is being brought back, with characters from the stories coming to life! Meet some of the characters below: Rhino, Cheetah, and Creeper with scone!
We will be at "the Green" from Wednesday, August 9th to Saturday, August 12th!