Artistic Bike Rack Project

The City of Annapolis, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, and MainStreets Annapolis Partnership, installed eleven artistic bike racks throughout the downtown area, showcasing vessels that have an historical connection to Annapolis's rich maritime history. This project supports the City's goal to encourage bicycling in Annapolis by providing needed bicycle parking while contributing to the city's outdoor public art collection.

A number of interested parties were consulted to determine suitable locations for installation:

  • Annapolis Arts in Public Places Commission
  • Annapolis Green
  • Annapolis Heritage Commission
  • The Annapolis Historic Preservation Commission
  • Bike Advocates for Annapolis and Anne Arundel County
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Principal Designer

Wayne Speight of SPEIGHT studio architects, Inc. is the principal designer of the Artistic bike racks. "Our design for the City's artistic bike rack system is part function and part scavenger hunt," says Speight. Celebrating both the City's maritime importance and close association with the U.S. Navy, Speight incorporated a silhouette of an important sailing/maritime vessel at each rack location. As depicted on this map, each circle represents a particular time period with silhouettes of the earliest sailing vessels beginning at the historic City Dock area as a further nod to how important sailing is to the City. Then the ship silhouettes become more contemporary as they expand across the newer parts of the City.

Locations

The bike racks include a brief narrative which identifies the historic significance of the vessel and its association with the Annapolis area. At several of the locations, both the positive and negative image of the vessel is crafted out of stainless steel.

The bike racks can be found at the following locations:

  • Susan Campbell Park - the USS Constitution, c. 1797
  • Foot of Prince George Street - Yacht America. c. 1851
  • Newman Street Park - Skipjack, c. 1890s-1993
  • Knighton Garage - Trumpy Yacht, c. 1947-1973
  • Acton's Landing Park - USS Maryland, c. 1921
  • Outer West Street - USS Annapolis, c. 1992
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Funding

Funding to support this project was provided by the Maryland Department of Transportation's Bikeways Program and the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.