Grayson Gallery and Arts Center, which established in 2011 in the town’s old fire station, does so much more than provide a place for artists to show their work.
Among that “so much more” is a ‘pay it forward’-style bike program. Started in 2016, the program provides bikes at key locations around town – all based on the honor system.
Because Grayson does not have any public transportation options available, transportation is a key barrier for many people getting from place to place. Several years ago, Tim Preston, community journalist with the Carter County Post, and a Grayson resident, started repairing bikes to provide people with a way to get around town to places like the community college, grocery store, or wherever else they needed to go.
When word got around about Preston’s work, the community donated so many bikes that he had a backyard full.
The Grayson Rotary Club provided a $1,000 donation in 2016 for the purchase of more bikes, as well as parts to maintain the bikes. Last year, the Club also helped install bike racks around town. The bike racks were designed, fabricated, welded and painted by students at the Carter County Career and Technical Center.
“We began thinking about where to get the racks. The connection with the school was just one of those lightbulb kind of moments,” Preston said. “The students sketched out and designed different types of racks, and Rotary members worked with them to further the designs. One program did the Computer Aided Design (CAD) work, then they sent those designs to the fabrication students, then to the carpentry program for painting.”
The racks are currently located in three places: downtown Grayson, the local park, and at the Gallery.
To further the accessibility of the program, volunteers worked to get several three-wheel bikes. Mindy Woods Click, co-director of the Grayson Gallery and Arts Center, said that the three-wheel option allowed a child with multiple sclerosis to ride a bike for the first time. The child told the Gallery staff it was the best day of his life. These bikes are also popular with older members of the community, and the group currently has two more waiting to be refurbished.
There are also a few tandem bikes, as well as “art bikes” that Tim and his wife, Alys, have collaged. So far, they have created Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet and Van Gogh bikes. The bikes include matching helmets which reflect the work of Georgia O’Keefe and others.
To date, they have only had one bike not make it back to the racks: the Picasso BMX style bike.
“We really don’t think it was theft, but a misunderstanding that the bikes are not meant to be taken home,” Preston said.
Photo by Tim Preston.
They recently donated a surplus of the bikes to Ashland Transportation Station, a program of The Neighborhood, an organization in nearby Ashland working to combat similar transportation issues in their community. Their model is that anyone who needs a bike can make an appointment and work with them to help repair or rebuild a donated bike, and then take that bike home.
Not only are the bikes fulfilling a critical need in Grayson, but many families are also using the bikes for recreation and exercise and coming down in the evenings to borrow the bikes. A bike club has also formed to lead group rides on Sundays.
Providing alternative methods of transportation is essential to building an Appalachia’s New Day that is accessible to everyone.
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