Takoma Park’s exciting reCYCLE Art of Bike Project

Sometimes if I think enough about a great idea, someone else will actually do it for me!  Seriously, kudos to Laura Barclay and all involved.  I am very excited to see this project unfold in the Takoma Park community.  This article came from the Takoma Park Newsletter, June 2011 edition.

New sculptures made of bicycle parts will be rolling into Takoma Park this month, as the reCYCLE Art of the Bike Project is installed.

The concept, to create public art from mostly bicycle parts, is designed to highlight the art, bicycling and recycling culture of Takoma Park.  Seven sculptures were commissioned by the Old Takoma Business Association, and will be mounted along the sidewalks of Carroll Avenue to create a self-guided walking tour.  Once installed, the art will remain in place for five months, then be auctioned off to the public at the Takoma Park Street Festival on October 2nd.

Artists, who were chosen by a five-person jury of specialists inclucing artists, an engineer, a museum consultant and an historian, are mostly local.  They are sculptor Howard Connelly of Silver Spring (two sculptures), Montgomery College sculpture student Richard Lorr (two sculptures), Takoma Park artists Alison Baker and James Colwell (one sculpture each) and San Diego artist Robert Wertz.  reCYCLE is the brainchild of Takoma Park resident Laura Barclay, who works with the City to promote the Old Town business area.  Barclay saw a similar project while on vacation in Belfast, Maine and was inspired to bring it home.  With support from the Old Town Business Association, Barclay solicited funding, put out a call to artists, recruited a jury and obtained permits for public art.  The project is financed by grants from the Takoma Foundation and the City’s Small Community Grant Program, and with support from the Takoma Park Arts and Humanities Commission, the Takoma Park Silver Spring Co-op, Mark’s Kitchen, Pyramid Atlantic, Franca Brilliant and Seth Grimes as well as Heritage Building and Renovation and Leda Black.

Highlights from my view of Stewart-Colbert Rally for Sanity

A view from the top (of the portable potties)

 Fantastic to be surrounded by so many people with such a good sense of political humor, no anger and a sense of unification “in sanity”, claustrophobia quickly disseminated.  We were standing in front of the National Museum of the American Indian, after a wonderful lunch on account and getting a copy of the cookbook for which Bruce styled  the food and tested the recipes.  Here are some of the best signs we saw.

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Look for posts in the next week from my visit to the Carriage House Market – an all natural all local farm product market…..Jeff

Garden RoSeS dedication to the Mothers in our Family

 If we weren’t already drawn to the garden every day to inspect each plant’s growth, our practice of planting roses (, sunflowers and sunchokes) in between the vegetables, herbs and berries would definitely attract us to the garden and remind us to tend to the crops.

 I did not get around to sending flowers to any of the amazing mothers in my family; so, this morning’s sunrise reflecting on the garden inspired me to post some photos of the roses in dedication to them. Linda, Connie, Cristiane, Luciane, Julia, Hyang, Oki, Shelley, Agnes, Mariane, Regina, and Marilyn – this is for you!