May is National Bike Month and SPACE will be showing support by presenting multiple events and an exhibition to help generate excitement. On May 4th, First Friday, we will open our exhibition Seek Alt. Routes: Recording Bicycle Powered Experiences, which offers the community a chance to share stories and experiences had while on a bike. We are really excited about this experiment in field recording and abstract mapping that will bring together all types of cyclists from the experienced spandex wearers to the newly blossoming Sunday riders.
On Saturday, May 5th we will open the gallery and encourage you to go for a bike exploration and see what you find. Bring it back to SPACE and help contribute to the “blank canvas” that is our gallery exhibit. We will have free coffee from Matt’s and treats from One Fifty Ate for those who contribute. E-mail your photos to jenny@space538.org and we will print them in black and white and pin them to the wall (field recording style).
from the collection of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission (file not available)
The following Saturday, May 12th from 11AM-2PM we host Betsy Sheintaub of Bobbin Studio and Bobolink, who will teach a bike tool bag workshop. We will provide all the tools you need to design, cut, stitch and take away a custom bag that can hang on your bike and use for whatever you like. Spots for this workshop are limited so reserve your ticket early here!
Later in the afternoon on the 12th, from 3:00-5:00PM we are excited to hear Sam Shupe, a Ph.D. student in the American Studies program at Boston University, talk about Maine’s bicycle history. Sam is a Portland native and daily cyclist who, for his undergraduate thesis at USM, studied turn of the century architect John Calvin Stevens and his love of bicycles. He will present visual ephemera, talk about bicycle club history and give other insights into cycling’s origins in Maine.
from the collection of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission (file not available)
Pilar Nadal, an M.F.A. candidate at Maine College of Art, is working on a project called The Tired Press, which will debut in early May. The Tired Press is a bicycle that is outfitted with a small relief press, pannier cabinets for supplies, a gallery for exhibition of prints made on the press, as well as a volunteer post office service. This mobile printmaking studio, along with Pilar, will be situated at the Deering Oaks Farmer’s Market on Saturday, May 19th from 9AM-12PM and will be open for visitors to come and make a postcard for free! We hope you will visit Pilar, make some postcards and bring one back to SPACE to add to our exhibition.
Keep your eyes peeled for the Alley Cat Race on May 26th from 2:00-4:00PM, which invites *skilled* riders to race through the streets in a messy, fast paced scavenger hunt across town. Complete with check points, prizes and probably some whipped cream, this race is not for the faint of heart, but will provide a welcome sight for sore eyes. If you’re not up for the race, but still want to get in on the action, come to the after party at 8:00PM, where we will be giving out awards, dancing and debuting a bike themed beer from the newest local brewery, Bunker Brewing Co.
Local artist and designer Emily Walsh keeps herself busy interviewing artists for her blog, designing posters and making prints at Pickwick Independent Press, but was gracious enough to create this awesome image and identity for Bike Month. She will be printing a limited edition silkscreen of this image, which will be for sale at the gallery during May, so grab one while you can, they will go fast!
We hope to see you and your bike at SPACE and out in the streets soon.