Biketown launches ‘Design Challenge’ to flood streets with art on wheels

They do it for shoes; why not do it for bike share bikes?

Portland’s Nike-sponsored Biketown bike share system has just launched a promotion that will result in a new collection of specially wrapped bikes. The Biketown Design Challenge invites everyone who lives in Oregon to go beyond the bright orange colorway and dream up a creative color scheme and design. Five winners will be selected for the designs that best represent each of Portland’s five quadrants — Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, Southwest, and North.

“The design challenge will highlight not only Portlander’s love for BIKETOWN,” reads an official statement about the contest, “but also its artistic, creative and innovative culture.” Each entry should reflect the individual’s personal spin on what makes their chosen quadrant unique.”

Mark Parker, Nike’s Chairman, President and CEO, says the contest is, “a celebration of Biketown and the community that’s embraced it.”

Submissions are due by March 7th and 50 finalists (10 from each quadrant) will be chosen by a panel that includes: Mark Parker; Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler; William Rihel of the Regional Arts and Culture Council; Joy Alise Davis, Design+Culture Lab LLC founder; Victoria Frey, Executive Director of Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA); Don Tuski, President of Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA); and Elizabeth Leach of the Elizabeth Leach Gallery.

The finalists will then be voted on by the public beginning April 14th. The five winning designs will be announced in May and each of the them will end up being wrapped onto 10 bikes. The 50 Design Challenge bikes will debut in their respective quadrants starting in May. These new bikes will be added to the fleet of 1,000 Biketown bikes that already feature custom “sneaker bikes” and rainbow-infused “BeTrue” bikes that were launched last summer as part of Pride Week.

Sharpen your pencils and get over to the official Biketown Design Challenge website for all the details.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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