On Monday, July 20th, ten Indego bikes designed by local
youth begin hitting the streets of Philadelphia, thanks to a partnership
between the Mural Arts Program, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation &
Utilities, and the Better Bike Share Partnership, an initiative funded by the
JPB Foundation.

Each bike has a unique design, created by 20 students aged
10-15 years old from the Laura W. Waring Elementary School. During a six-week
course after regular school hours, the students, led by artist Candy Coated and
Mural Arts educator Sarah Folger, created the designs around the themes of
“sharing” and “bikes”.

Students received lessons in color mixing, sticker and
stencil making, pattern making and layering techniques. The course guided
students to think about their experiences riding bicycles, their experiences
sharing with others, and how certain shapes and colors work together to convey
these experiences. The colorful, patterned artwork that the students produced
was then turned into wraps, or covers, for ten Indego bikes with the help of
Mural Arts educator and graphic designer Zeke Zenei. The students also created
stickers of their artwork to place on helmets donated by the Indego bike share
program.

In celebration of this effort to bring art and biking
together through the Indego bike share program, Philadelphians are encouraged
to Tweet and Instagram photos of the specially wrapped bikes while using the
hashtag #ridingmurals. There will be a month-long social media campaign filled
with wonderful prizes from our partners. (Hint: restaurant & hotel deals, unlimited Indego trips and so much more!).

Artist Candy Coated is known for her Magic Carpet mural on
the Eakins oval in Philadelphia, named by the Public Art Network Year in Review
program one of the 31 outstanding pieces of public art created nationwide in
2014. Candy, an avid cyclist, has worked with communities in Philadelphia for
two decades to make innovative public art.

Indego, sponsored by Independence Blue Cross, is an
initiative of the City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Transportation &
Utilities. The program launched on April 23, 2015. Since then, over 145,000
Indego bike rides have been taken between 70 stations across the city.