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First Annual
LIC Bike Parade!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Registration 11:30 AM
Workshops 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Parade 3:00 PM - 4:00PM Free / Rain or shine!
On Saturday, May 10, Socrates Sculpture Park will present the first annual
LIC Bike Parade in partnership with Bike New York, Freestyle
Arts Association, Friends of Queensbridge Park, Materials
for the Arts, The Noguchi Museum, Partnerships for Parks,
Recycle-A-Bicycle, and Transportation Alternatives (Queens Committee).
This FREE family and community event will invite children of all
ages to explore the creative and functional potential of adaptive reuse,
by using repurposed materials to repair and decorate their bikes! Socrates
Sculpture Park is delighted to launch this new collaboration and plans to
institute the LIC Bike Parade as an annual community event.The day will
kick-off with several hands-on workshops and activities at the Park including
bike decorating with artists from Socrates Sculpture Park, Freestyle Arts
Association, Materials for the Arts, and the Noguchi Museum; bikerepair
consultations with Recycle-A-Bicycle; riding safety tips and helmet fitting
with Bike New York and Transportation Alternatives. Immediately following
the workshops, participants will parade their bikes around the Park in a
colorful procession with Hungry March Band and performers from Circus
Amok, City Reliquary and the Civic Riders Bicycle Club,
that will continue down Vernon Boulevard and finish at Queensbridge Park
where participants will be welcomed with bicycle themed music presented
by Friends of Queensbridge Park. In addition, Bike New York will
offer educational bike workshops at local organizations during the weeks
preceding the event.
To learn more visit
www.bikenewyork.org.
Advance registration is not required, but space is limited. Please arrive
early! All workshops are free and supplies will be provided. Participants
are required to bring their own bicycles. The workshops will last approximately
three hours and will be held -rain or shine - in the education area at
Socrates Sculpture Park.
This first annual LICBike Parade is inspired by Socrates Sculpture Park’s
spring exhibition. Opening on Sunday, May 4, 2008, the show will feature
artists that have found innovative ways to address notions of recycling,
repurposing and re-using existing materials, systems and practices.
Socrates Sculpture Park was an abandoned riverside landfill and
illegal dumpsite until 1986 when a coalition of artists and community
members, under the leadership of sculptor Mark di Suvero, transformed
it into an open studio and exhibition space for artists and a neighborhood
park for local residents. Today, it is an internationally renowned outdoor
museum and artist residency program that also serves as a vital New York
City park offering a wide variety of free public programs. The Park’s
existence is based on the belief that reclamation, revitalization and
creative expression are essential to the survival, humanity and improvement
of our urban environment.
Socrates Sculpture Park is open 365 days a year from 10am to sunset and
is located at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Boulevard in Long
Island City. For directions to the Park, please visit our website: www.socratessculpturepark.org.
For additional information about LIC Bike Parade and the upcoming spring
exhibition, please contact Ellen Staller at Socrates Sculpture Park, 718.956.1819
ext. 12 or e-mail info@socratessculpturepark.org.
This program is made possible by generous grants from ConEdison and The
November Fund and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New
York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Special thanks to Partnerships for Parks.
Socrates Sculpture Park is grateful for the support of the City of New
York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall,
City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan,
City Councilmembers Eric Gioia and Peter F. Vallone, Jr. and the Department
of Parks & Recreation, Commissioner Adrian Benepe.