On any given day or night in the Oregon District, bikes can be found fighting for a spot along the patio fence of Blind Bob’s, located at 430 E. 5th street in Dayton’s Oregon District. Bar owners Bob and Lisa Mendenhall talked to their manager, Nate Mendenhall, about commissioning a local artist to create a beautiful and functional metal sculpture that will also serve as a much needed bicycle rack for the nightlife-oriented area of the Oregon District. Nate selected local metal worker and artist TJ Schaff for the task, who has designed a stunning and practical bike rack that will be revealed on Friday, September 3rd as part of the District’s monthly art-centric “First Friday” events. “We bring entertainment with great music all the time,” says Bob. “We thought this would be a way to embrace the ‘arts’ aspect of the Oregon District while also providing a service that benefits the neighborhood.”
TJ has a fabrication shop called 212°N of Reality, where he creates artistic pieces from scrap metal. His Facebook page is called Rust and Relaxation, and features several recent projects he has completed.
Kudos to both Blind Bob’s and TJ Schaff for starting what will hopefully be a trend in the Oregon District and throughout downtown – public art created by local artists AND more bike racks. With local metal artists like TJ and others (our friend Hamilton Dixon comes to mind), we could very well have the coolest bike racks of any city in the Midwest!
About Bill Pote