Local artist ‘fixes’ blighted bicycles slated for city confiscation

After the city’s 311 center has spent three months identifying and tagging abandoned bicycles, the Streets Department will today begin a sweep to rid communities of bikes long chained to poles, racks and railings and left to rust.

Philadelphia artist Corrina Mehiel has in the interim been “fixing” the stripped bicycles by replacing the missing parts with non-functional ones – like the wooden wheels, handlebars and seat seen in the picture.

She said in a release that, through her Bike (Ph)ix project, she hopes to give community members a different way to view no-longer functional objects in public spaces and suggest new, creative approaches to repairing broken objects on city streets.

Though the street art installations were slated to be available for viewing Friday through Sunday, some were still in place Monday afternoon, such as the one at 12th and Vine streets.

Other locations where you might catch Mehiel’s work include Broad and Lombard Streets, 13th and Spruce streets, 16th and Lombard streets, 11th and Appletree streets, 11th and Cherry streets, 18th and Walnut streets, the 800 and 1400 blocks of Pine Street, 15th Street between Pine and Lombard streets.