See what happened to some of those rental blue "Sky Bikes" in downtown West Palm

Eddie Ritz, Palm Beach Post
·3 min read

As the classic song by Queen goes: "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike."

Whether you have a deep love for the two-wheeled, human-powered transportation, or a love of three-dimensional, avante-garde art — or better yet, both — the "Up-Cycle: Bike Art Show" at Resource Depot in West Palm Beach is something you need to see.

Opened in mid-July, the show features seven bicycles that have been transformed into works of art by local artists skilled in working with bikes as a medium.

How the bike show was created in West Palm Beach

Resource Depot Executive Director Jennifer O'Brien said the idea for a show featuring bicycles began several years ago and gained more steam after they got their hands on multiple bicycles, including several decommissioned Sky Bikes (the blue bicycles that were once for rent at stations throughout downtown West Palm Beach).

See bicycles transformed into works of art at Resource Depot's "Up-Cycle: Bike Art Show."
See bicycles transformed into works of art at Resource Depot's "Up-Cycle: Bike Art Show."

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Additionally, because of the way the Sky Bikes were built, there was a good amount of surface area for artwork.

Connecting with artists to do the work entailed both direct outreach and putting the word out through channels including The Cultural Council for the Palm Beaches. The fact that "artists talk amongst themselves" also helped grow that network until the project had enough artists to launch, O'Brien said.

O'Brien said they were looking for artists who, among other things, were used to working with repurposed items.

Resource Depot vetted each artist, took a look at their sketches for what they wanted to do and then selected the artists to be paired with the bicycles.

Originally the goal was to "have as many 'upcycled' bikes as possible, pun intended," O'Brien said. But several of them were turned into works of art rather than functional bicycles.

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This work by Mack Carter was built from two bicycles and is titled "Back 2 Back Tandem."
This work by Mack Carter was built from two bicycles and is titled "Back 2 Back Tandem."

Mack Carter, whose work can be found on Facebook under The Infamous Bike Guy, took two bicycles apart and combined them into a work titled "Back 2 Back Tandem." It was created using two bikes, pieces of an old dining room chair and parts from a broken go-cart.

Another bike was completely disassembled and rebuilt into a sculpture by artist Stephen Futej. Titled "If you spend all day shuffling words around," it was built from two disassembled bicycles, a patio chair, brake drum and repurposed hardwood.

Famed local bicycle builder Martin Mercado went full steampunk with his entry titled "Crazy Bonnie." Mercado covered the front and rear wheels with repurposed car hoods from 2019 Nissan Altima and a 2018 Chevy Malibu that were taken down to bare metal before being cut, shaped and put into place.

The piece by Haydee Ullfig, "Velociraptor On Velocipede," was crafted from an old beach cruiser, paint, cardboard, glass beads, foam, palm tree parts and more.

Several decommissioned Sky Bikes (once available for rent throughout downtown West Palm Beach) were used as artists' canvases for the "Up-Cycle: Bike Art Show" at Resource Depot.
Several decommissioned Sky Bikes (once available for rent throughout downtown West Palm Beach) were used as artists' canvases for the "Up-Cycle: Bike Art Show" at Resource Depot.

Erick Adrian Marquez built his "Saturday Morning Beach Stroll" from a Sky Bike using cardboard, tissue paper, wire and tissue paper.

"Dream Flight" was created from one of the retired Sky Bikes using upcycled styrofoam and acrylic paint.

Gregory Dirr's "Gilded Schwinn" was crafted from a 1981 Schwinn World Tourist Bike Frame with gold leaf, CDs and expoxy resin.

These works will be display at Resource Depot through Sept. 9. After that the bicycles will belong to the artists who will be free to sell them if they wish.

Through the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, artists were given a small stipend to do their work on the bikes.

Up-Cycle Bike Art Show

Titled "Velociraptor on Velocipede" this work by Haydee Ullfig is now on display at the "Up-Cycle: Bike Art Show" at Resource Depot in West Palm Beach.
Titled "Velociraptor on Velocipede" this work by Haydee Ullfig is now on display at the "Up-Cycle: Bike Art Show" at Resource Depot in West Palm Beach.

Where: Resource Depot, 2508 Florida Ave., West Palm Beach

When: Runs through Sept. 9; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sunday, Monday

Cost: Free

Information: .resourcedepot.org; 561-882-0090

Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. He has lived in the West Palm Beach area for more than 30 years and, from mild to wild, will cover noteworthy community happenings. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Enjoy free West Palm art exhibit: "Up-Cycle: Bike Art Show" Sky Bikes