Artist Decorates Abandoned Bike, Gets Fined

Toronto artist Caroline Macfarlane found a rusted bicycle that had been locked to a bike rack for a very long time. She decided to make it into art, painting the whole bike neon pink and adding a basket of flowers. The city responded by fining her.

1 minute read

June 3, 2011, 10:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur

The artist writes that the piece was instantly very popular, and got lots of attention. Whenever she was working on it, people would come up and comment, and even the local police were approving. And then:

"Yesterday, I arrived to the gallery with flowers, ready to plant them in the basket, only to find a notice from the city stapled to our neon bike. It turns out it is illegal to store bicycles on public property, and that we have seven days to remove it before we are fined and it is taken away to be destroyed. The funny thing is that this bike has been sitting in the same place for years, unnoticed by the city. However, once it is brightened and made beautiful, it's got to go."

FULL STORY: Toronto artist turns abandoned bike into sculpture, City threatens fine for "storing bike on public property"

Thursday, June 2, 2011 in Boing Boing

Community / Economic Development British Columbia Public Art Bike Racks

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Start Learning

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.