For more than a decade, Salt Lake City has been transformed with a colorful explosion of public art projects, street art and murals. (Don’t believe us? Check out our Art Lake City map). GREENbike would like to take that trend mobile with a new blend of art and transportation.

During Salt Lake City’s Gallery Stroll on Friday, September 19, Utah’s nonprofit bike share, GREENbike, will introduce 13 new “Artbikes” to its fleet. The specially designed e-bikes feature original artwork by local artists and will debut at several galleries around town: ‘A’ Gallery, Phillips Gallery, Modern West, 15th Street Gallery and Material Gallery. Each of the bikes incorporates art into the triangular frame panel, turning what is usually a utilitarian space into a canvas. The designs, created by Utah artists, range from vivid geometric patterns and colorful abstract compositions to landscapes and contemporary motifs.

For GREENbike, the Artbike program represents an extension of its decade-long mission: to provide an affordable, healthy, and environmentally friendly transportation option while supporting local culture. Founded in 2013, the nonprofit began with just a few docking stations in downtown Salt Lake City. Today, it operates a system of 51 stations across the city and has expanded into Ogden. Since its inception, the organization says it has helped riders offset millions of pounds of carbon emissions, avoid more than six million vehicle miles and burn nearly 80 million calories.

“We are so excited to support some of our amazing local artists by featuring their work on our GREENbike e-bikes,” says Stan Penfold, GREENbike Executive Director. “This fun project puts local art ‘on the street’ as riders can check out any of these unique e-bikes from one of our 51 stations in Salt Lake City.” Penfold, a former member of the Salt Lake Ciy Council and a mayoral candidate in 2019, will share his thoughts on and officially launch the program Friday evening at Modern West Fine Art at 6 pm.

The Artbikes are also a way to make the bike share program more visible and approachable. By integrating art into the bikes themselves, GREENbike says it hopes to spark curiosity, encourage more residents to try the system, and highlight the connections between mobility, sustainability, and creativity.

Residents and visitors will be able to check out the Artbikes from any GREENbike docking station, the same way they would access a standard e-bike. It’s no secret that there’s not a whole lot of strolling going on at Gallery Stroll, but beginning this Friday maybe there will be a little rolling. And in style, no less.

Participating artists include Brent Godfrey, Lizzie Wenger, Nathan Mufold, Harry Taylor, John Wood, Meri DeCaria, Jerrin Wagstaff, V. Kim Martinez, Lindsay Frei, Trent Call, Madeline Rupard, Mary Toscano, Andrew Shaw, and Sara Serratos.

For more information about the Artbike project and the artists involved, visit greenbikeutah.org/artbikes.

15 Bytes

UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.