Newsletter - May 2008

Dear supporters of Yellow Bike,

Welcome to the Bike Month edition of our newsletter. Read on for details of many exciting upcoming events. We hope to see you all at the birthday party.

-The Yellow Bike Project (YBP)

BIKE MONTH - May is Bike Month in Austin. For a month long schedule of events, go to the Austin Cycling Association's Bike Month Calendar.

2nd ANNUAL COMMUNITY CELEBRATION: A WALKING, CYCLING FESTIVAL OF ARTS AND CULTURE - We are creating a moving celebration and community green map to explore some of our most unknown and precious community resources and all of it by human power. You can walk, ride your bike, rent a pedicab, whatever you like, but bring your ears and eyes wide open and your feet ready to move, meet new people, collaborate and celebrate!

Carnival fun and preparations begin at the Carver Museum and Cultural Center at 3pm, including mask making, bicycle puppets, youth bike and helmet give away by the Austin Yellow Bike Project, stilts, music and more. From there begins our neighborhood caravan, exploring new mural projects, community gardens and local historic sites. The caravan ends at the Victory Grill with more music, performance, bicycle fun, ice cream and a chance to celebrate the richness of Austin culture and connect with new faces.

Join a plethora of Austin groups, from the Austin Bike Zoo's human powered puppetry, the Austin Yellow Bike Project , the Theatre Action Project, Metamorphosis Arte, Buscando El Monte's Cuban Conga troupe, Austin Community Steel Band, , Cubensi Stilt Theatre, the Jacob Fontaine Religious Museum, and the Historic Victory Grill.

YELLOW BIKE BIRTHDAY - Come celebrate the Yellow Bike Project's 11th birthday with our annual birthday party and bike art benefit. The United States Art Authority and Spiderhouse , located at 2908 Fruth Street, will be hosting the celebration from 6pm to 2 am on Saturday May 31st. Come join us for bike related events, including gold sprints and yellow bike races. There will be a raffle and an art show with a silent auction. There will be live music from Magnifico and Foot Patrol, along with No Big Deal, Blackholicus and Hollywood Gossip. Music will be spun by DJ Brisket and DJ Katastrophik. There will be a $5 donation at the door and all proceeds go to The Yellow Bike Project's "New Headquarters Fund."

CALL FOR ARTISTS AND AUCTION ITEMS - We're planning a silent art and bike auction at our 11th birthday bash on Saturday May 31st. We need donated artwork and classic/high quality bicycles and components for a successful fund-raising event. Artists and creative-types alike are encouraged to submit bicycle-inspired art by our extended deadline of Monday, May 26th. There are no rules and no limits to the type of medium artists choose, however used or recycled materials and re-use of surplus bike parts is highly encouraged. Free bike parts will be available at our main shop at 2013 E. 51st Street, and all proceeds from the silent auction will be donated to YBP for the new building construction fund. Artists must submit the following to be considered:

1. Name, address, phone number, email
2. Photo, Sketch and description of Art Works to be entered in auction
3. Acknowledgment and agreement that all proceeds from the auction of art will be donated to The Austin Yellow Bike Project.

Please submit via email to austinyellowbike@gmail.com

Or mail:

Austin Yellow Bike Art Show
2013 E. 51st St.
Austin, TX 78723

NEW HEADQUARTERS FUND - This month we are announcing the kickoff of our fundraising drive. We are finalizing negotiations with the City of Austin to sign a 50 year lease for 3/4 acre of land at East 12th and Webberville RD. We hope to raise $250,000 to see the building project through and have already set aside $80,000 towards this goal. We are also looking for help from licensed electricians, plumbers, and general contractors. Visit our website for more details on our new home and how you can contribute.

COMMUNITY BIKES, COMMUNITY THEATER - This month the Austin Shakespeare Festival is using eight yellow bikes in the opening scene of its production of Much Ado About Nothing. The show runs Thursdays through Sundays, May 1 - 25 at 8pm at the Sheffield Theater in Zilker Park. The show is free and makes an excellent Bike Month outing destination.

51st STREET SHOP CLOSING - We have a firm deadline of July 1, 2008 to move out of our current Main Shop, so construction can begin on a new road into the Mueller redevelopment. Due to this, May will be our last month of open workshops at this location. All personal projects and Earn-a-Bike projects must leave the shop by the end of May. We are planning a new, improved Earn-a-Bike program for our new shop so hours from 51st Street will not carry over.

TREASURE CITY SHOP UPDATE - Things have been hopping at the TC this last month. Lots of bikes, lots of great volunteers, lots of new energy. Due to the closing of the main shop, Treasure City will start taking on a larger role in all Yellow Bike Shop activities. We will be expanding hours, probably starting in June, and will hopefully get more storage nearby to accommodate more bikes and parts. If you haven't been to this shop yet, make a point of coming by soon, so you know what the deal is. We are poised to become the one and only community bike shop, at least for a few months...

FRANKENBIKE AND HUMAN POWERED MOVE - Looking forward to June, we will continue hosting a full schedule of volunteer shops to finish overhauling bikes, get the shop organized and packed up to move. Chris Gross has generously agreed to hold one of his Frankenbike bicycle swap-meets at our 51st ST. shop on Saturday, June 14, from noon to 4pm. This event should help us raise some cash and lighten our load before the move. If you or anyone you know needs an affordable ready-to-ride bike or spare parts, plan on attending. Speaking of our move, we will also be organizing another human-powered shop move for Saturday, June 21 , this time from 51st Street to our future home at 12th and Webberville. Stay tuned for more details.

HILL COUNTRY RIDE FOR AIDS - Team Yellow Bike, led by shop coordinator Mateo Scoggins, had a great time on the ride and at Krause Springs and raised over $4,000 for a worthy cause. Here are details.

APPRENTICE COORDINATORS APPRECIATED - At this month's Collective Meeting six new Apprentice Coordinators signed up to help staff workshops. Its great to see new people show up, excited to contribute and help maintain Yellow Bike as a resource for the Austin community. We look forward to expanding our hours at Treasure City in the coming months as well as finding other ways to help keep Austin rolling during the interim period between main shops. We'll keep you posted!

Due to ever-increasing demand for shop resources, we'll continue to increase the number of shop coordinators at our workshops while capping the number of shop users to ensure that everyone gets the help they need to make their time at Yellow Bike productive and educational. We recommend showing up during the first hour of a shop period to increase your chances of getting a workstation.

SCHEDULE