The Winnipeg Arts Council (WAC) is excited to offer ArtRide bicycle tours for the fifth year. Each year, the WAC develops different tours to highlight public art throughout the city. Each Art Ride is organized by the Winnipeg Arts Council, with a member guiding the tour and talking about each art work, which it was commissioned, and the artists who made it.

The next tour will feature works of art in St Vital and will take place on Saturday, August 11 at 9:30am. Alexis Kinloch, Public Art Project Coordinator for the WAC, says that the upcoming tour in St Vital will feature two brand new public art works that have recently been opened.

The tour will begin at the St Vital Park duck pond, which is also home to the first stop on the tour, Écobuage, an interactive fire pit sculpture. From there, the tour will continue to the new public art work at the junction of St Mary’s and St Anne’s, Watershed by Colin Zipp, which was which was officially opened in June and is worth a closer look.

Other stops will include Tributaries, an interactive mosaic mural at the Windsor Park library, which has many layers. Kinloch notes that it is also a tribute to the beautiful blue mosaic by artist George Swinton, originally on the façade of the Sears store in Polo Park.

The last stop will be to a piece along the Bishop Grandin Greenway that many Winnipegers may not even know is there, because it is so at home in its natural setting. Artists Nancy Chew and Jacqueline Metz created land/mark, which is intended to reflect the natural history of the area, of both humans and animals.

Each public art piece celebrates the neighborhood in which it is placed, as each work is commissioned and developed with the surroundings in mind. As Kinloch says, the ArtRide is a wonderful opportunity for people to meet like-minded individuals, especially in their own community, and to “get to know the city in a way that they haven’t before.”

Organizers advise that you bring plenty of water and that you wear a hat and appropriate clothing, especially if you are not a regular cyclist. Bike Winnipeg is a partner on this event, and they provide a marshall to ensure everyone has a safe ride. The marshall for this art ride will be Mark Cohoe, Executive Director of Bike Winnipeg.

The ride will begin at the St Vital Park Pavilion at 9:30, and it takes about an hour and a half, ending at the Bishop Grandin Greendway. If you are interested in participating, be sure to register ahead of time, because there is a waiver to sign. There is even a Facebook page with more information and where you can connect with other family, friends, and neighbours that might also want to attend.

This article was originally published on July 30, 2018 by Winnipeg Free Press.