Ghost bikes going, giant musician bike coming

There are two unrelated pieces of news involving bicycles and public art this morning. First, despite DDOT’s signs that said the ghost bikes at Connecticut and R would be removed in 10 days, DC workers hauled them away yesterday. Was this another miscommunciation between DDOT and DPW? DDOT seemed to be making an effort to at least handle the issue in a less haphazard way, but then whoever did the hauling and whoever made the decision to order it fell back into the same pattern that triggered the controversy in the first place. It’s disappointing.

Second, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities has picked the “Bicycle Musician” (above right) as the piece of public art for the corner of 18th and Columbia in Adams Morgan. Many residents dislike the piece, and KCA President Denis James editorialized against it. It was my least favorite of the three, as well, and doesn’t provide seating while the other two do. In our poll, it came in last.

While there’s no way people can agree on art, this does seem like one area where decisionmakers should lean toward deferring to community wishes. The Adams Morgan listserv thread alludes to some kind of poll taken to choose a finalist, but the DCCAH Web site has no information about the results. Or perhaps people are confusing our poll with being something official, as at least one poster did. There’s also no announcement of the decision or any other information on the DCCAH site, their Twitter feed, or their blog.