Woodlands Arts Council unveils its latest artistic beauty, the Give Back Bike Rack

THE WOODLANDS, TX – The Woodlands Arts Council recently unveiled its latest piece of art in the township; their very first ‘Give Back Bike Rack,’ a piece of art installation that serves as a public bicycle rack on top of its artistic presence.

James Stilwell, president of The Woodlands Arts Council spoke at an outdoors gathering at the main entrance of Town Green Park, site of the new installation that was entitled Tokens of Gratitude.

“We’re here at Town Green Park for the unveiling of the Give Back Bike Rack, our first art bike rack in The Woodlands,” he said in an exclusive interview with Woodlands Online. “We have had quite a number of public art pieces in The Woodlands with benches in parks and around The Waterway and Hughes Landing, and we decided that some of the bike racks could use some of that art beautifying, too. This one at the front of Town Green Park was a natural fit for us.”

The artist of the bike rack is John Truman, who attended the event with his wife and young son. His pride at presenting something to the community he calls home was apparent when he talked with Woodlands Online.

As a board member, I noticed how much the Arts Council does for the community and how much the community supports them in return, so I created this piece as a way of expressing gratitude; it’s a token of appreciation from the Arts Council to the community for their support, providing volunteers, and all that they do,” he said. “But it’s also a token from the community to the Council for things like their microgrants and scholarships, putting together The Woodlands Arts Festival, for bringing such wonderful pieces of art to the entire area. It goes both ways and is a means for the Council to bring a legacy piece to the center of where they host the festival.”

Stilwell marveled at how the community came together to fund the piece, also thanking partner The Howard Hughes Corporation for its ongoing support. Names of the donors were included as part of the artwork on the rack.

“For this first bike rack, we wanted it to have a big community emphasis, and so for 2022’s Giving Tuesday we made our donation request emphasis to be on the whole community to give funds, instead of just a single business or sponsor,” he said. “We had more than fifty donors come together on that Giving Tuesday to fund this first art bike rack for The Woodlands. We have just put out proposals for the next five bike racks around the same areas that our art benches are located.”

The public is invited to check out the art bike rack in person at the Lake Robbins entrance to Town Green Park.

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