You may have noticed brightly colored bike racks installed at a growing number of businesses in St. Louis — including Olio, Sural Market, and the Moto Museum. But while each rack is unique they share a common origin: they were taught by poor young artists how to design and build custom racks using discarded bicycle parts.

St. Louis Artwork BoomerRacks is a six-week summer program that allows companies to commission a unique bike rack. They meet with teenage apprentices to discuss their needs, and the apprentices then use the program to teach artists to make this dream a reality. They sketch bike racks and create sketches or small models to show to clients.

Once approved, the bike racks that the apprentices help create take apart the donated bikes and use parts as base racks. These parts are welded, painted or power coated - the end result is a rack of sorts.
"Not only is it a functional bike rack, but it's a work of art," said Priscilla Block, executive director of St. Louis Artwork. "Each one is unique and designed for every client. No two are alike.
Since 2008, this program has resulted in 25 planes in the neighborhood and on the streets of St. Louis and surrounding cities.

St. Louis Art Uses Art to impart life and work skills to underserved students ages fourteen to nineteen. The BoomerRacks program, for example, asks youth to work with clients to help deliver the visual company, says Deborah Hui, a setting teaching artist.

"It's very important that they learn professionalism, how to manage themselves in a meeting, and how to step from a teenager to an adult," Wheeler said.A sculptor, Wheeler has worked with St. Louis artwork each summer for ten years and currently serves as the head of the BoomerRacks program of teaching artists."Every year, it's a new group of teens who really grow up in that six-week program," Wheeler said. "If they already have a love of art, it just fuels the passion further, and if they don't, then usually they come out knowing they can do things and they have more confidence.

Wheeler loves seeing students discover they don't know their skills. "When they create something, there's that light that shines in their eyes," Wheeler said. She still keeps in touch with the former apprentice.
The youth honing in this program goes beyond its artistic skills. It helps them understand how to build a good resume and confidence with public speaking in a professional environment. They are getting paid for their work. "We are very proud of our youth learning, skills," Block said. "We've always known them to be creative and intelligent, and they just deserve a chance to use that creativity and intelligence in their designs."

The response from businesses that have commissioned these hangers, too, has been positive. The cost of a rack depends on factors such as size and type of organizational involvement. They can cost anywhere from 00 to 00."I think they're really happy with the money they've spent... not just giving them a bike rack, but it's supporting working teens," Block said.