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Barnes Foundation and Indego Bike Share Announce Launch of Ten New Bikes Featuring Masterworks from Collection

April 18, 2018

Philadelphia, PAThe Barnes Foundation and Indego bike share have announced that ten new bikes wrapped in paintings from the Barnes collection will be unveiled on Sunday, May 6, at the Barnes’s PECO Free First Sunday Family Day.

With the goal of engaging the public in a community-wide initiative, these bikes will feature paintings selected by the public via an online poll and at street fairs and festivals throughout the city. The new bikes will feature works by artists including Horace Pippin, Edgar Degas, and Georges Seurat.

As part of this continued collaboration, free general admission to the Barnes for Indego passholders will be extended through December 31, 2019, and passholders will continue to be able to bring up to four friends, who will each receive $5 off Barnes admission.

Indego also recently installed a new bike station at the Barnes, located on the corner of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 20th Street, making it more convenient than ever for communities from across Philadelphia to bike to the Barnes.

“We are excited to continue our collaboration with Indego bike share—the first of its kind between a city bike-share program and an arts institution—for another year, and to unveil the next ten masterwork-wrapped bikes at our PECO Free First Sunday Family Day on May 6,” says Shelley Bernstein, deputy director for audience engagement and chief experience officer at the Barnes. “We love that Indego provides a healthy and fun way for people to travel to the Barnes, and with Indego’s many docks throughout Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, and the newest dock located right here at the Barnes, biking here is easier than ever.”

“Indego is all about connecting people to the great resources our city has to offer,” says Michael Carroll, the City of Philadelphia’s Deputy Managing Director for Transportation & Infrastructure Systems. “By collaborating with the Barnes, our bikes can bring people to the museum, and bring the museum to people; it’s fantastic.”

This collaboration kicked off in September 2017 with the launch of ten masterwork-wrapped bikes at the Barnes, and the announcement of free general admission to the Barnes for Indego passholders. This first set of bikes featured works by Paul Cézanne, William Glackens, Amedeo Modigliani, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Rousseau, and Vincent van Gogh.

In total, these masterwork-wrapped bikes have taken over 3,000 rides in the six months they have been on the streets. With over 400 rides, the bike wrapped in Henri Rousseau’s Unpleasant Surprise is the most popular thus far, and the second most popular is wrapped in Vincent van Gogh’s Houses and Figure, with 381 rides to date.

PECO Free First Sunday Family Day: Freedom of Movement
Sunday, May 6, 2018
10am – 5pm
FREE

Bike to the Barnes for the reveal of the latest masterpieces you picked to wrap Indego bikes! Freedom of movement is what Indego is all about, and this theme connects all of us to our freedom of choice—our freedom to celebrate our differences and our connections. Meet us at the museum for a high-energy day of programming! Admission to the collection and the Renoir: Father and Son/ Painting and Cinema exhibition is included.Tickets are limited and available on-site starting at 10 am. Families with children under 18 receive priority access to the collection. More information.

ABOUT THE BARNES FOUNDATION
The Barnes Foundation is a nonprofit cultural and educational institution that shares its unparalleled art collection with the public, organizes special exhibitions, and presents programming that fosters new ways of thinking about human creativity. The Barnes collection is displayed in ensembles that integrate art and objects from across cultures and time periods, overturning traditional hierarchies and revealing universal elements of human expression. Home to one of the world’s finest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist, and early modern paintings—including the largest groups of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne in existence—the Barnes brings together renowned masterworks by such artists as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent van Gogh, alongside ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and non-Western art as well as metalwork, furniture, and decorative art.

The Barnes Foundation was established by Dr. Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to “promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture.” Since moving to the heart of Philadelphia in 2012, the Barnes has expanded its commitment to teaching visual literacy in groundbreaking ways, investing in original scholarship relating to its collection and enhancing accessibility throughout every facet of its program.

The Barnes Foundation is open Wednesday–Monday, and tickets can be purchased on-site, online, or by calling 215.278.7200. Ticket prices and current hours are listed on our website.

ABOUT INDEGO
The City of Philadelphia launched Indego in 2015 as the city’s newest form of public transportation with 60 stations and 600 bikes and expanded this year to 120 stations and 1,200 bikes. Indego offers 24/7 access to the city on your schedule. Indego is an initiative of the City of Philadelphia and sponsored by Independence Blue Cross. Indego is part of the Better Bike Share Partnership (BBSP), which seeks to develop bike share equitably and sustainably across the country. BBSP is funded by The JPB Foundation.

THE BETTER BIKE SHARE PARTNERSHIP
The Better Bike Share Partnership is an effort led by the City of Philadelphia that works to ensure that Indego bike share is accessible to all Philadelphians. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is a nonprofit advocacy and education organization working as part of the Better Bike Share Partnership to support bike share and biking education.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Deirdre Maher, Director of Communications
215.278.7160, press@barnesfoundation.org
Online press office: barnesfoundation.org/press

Kelly Cofrancisco, City of Philadelphia
215.686.6210, kelly.cofrancisco@phila.gov