Bicycle touring? What is that? And mural how could it be so, you can't carry all the paints and brushes on your bike can you?!
Bicycle touring is where you live on your bicycle riding long distance. It typically spans over multiple weeks and you learn to live simply and actively! Not only are you igniting your body by pedaling but you are also engaging with your surroundings by interacting with neighborhoods and peoples that you would not get the chance to if you were confined to a car!
"I don't think I could possibly come up with a better way to live my life. Cycling and the creation of community murals!" -Molly Keen
In the summer of 2017 I set off for the second time for the Pacific Northwest on a bicycle tour with the incredible, Biketopia Music Collective.
We rode our bicycles from Olympia, Washington back to our home in Oakland, CA over the span of 2.5 months. Over 1,000 miles pedaling and working together.
Our goal? Use our bodies upon our large bicycles to pedal ourselves in an intentional community through cities where we would perform music with pedal-powered music! Pedal power? The same bicycles we use to tour on, we used for the community to pedal our shows! 3-4 hours long, we had different acts and musicians contribute; including murals!
In Seaside, Oregon I created a 1-day mural with participants from the local community center to create a gorgeous mural that was inspired by the garden and all of the love that went into the creation of it.
In Portland, Oregon, I created an incredible large mural that was abstract in style, and colorful in content. This piece was in the Hollywood district just right across the bicycle shop Velo Cult, which is where the bicycle touring group performed. This mural was the first where I had a reveal party with music and friends. I loved to include the community in the reveal as this is an important aspect to the mural and the future life that it will lead.
You can find the 20′ x 15′ foot mural entitled “Sacred Waters” at 42nd and Tillamook in the Hollywood District on the side of Popina Swimwear.
Put in the videos and both murals here.