Glasswork sculpture considered for new Geneva bike rack

A pretty place to lock your bicycle may be coming to Geneva, if the city council approves the purchase of a sculptural bike rack.

The Geneva Cultural Arts Commission is recommending the city buy a work by sculptured-glass artist Weston Lambert.

The work, made of steel, glass and wood, is expected to cost up to $6,000, according to a memo about the purchase. It is supposed to accommodate six bicycles.

Fox Valley Orthopedics of Geneva is donating $3,000 toward the cause, as part of its “Thanks In Motion” celebration of its 40th anniversary. It’s 10-month celebration has been encouraging people to keep their joints healthy by keeping moving, and supporting bicycling was one of the ways it chose.

The rest of the money will come from the Cultural Arts Commission’s fund, which is generated by fundraisers such as “Dancing With the Geneva Stars” and donations.

Twelve designs were submitted, and a committee picked Lambert’s in August. The committee was not told the names of the artists, to prevent bias.

Lambert is a professor of glass practice at Tulane University. One of his current projects is making sculptural stone-and-glass benches for parks in Chattanooga, Tenn. He exhibits annually at “SOFA Chicago,” an internationally renowned show devoted to functional art and design in sculptured objects.

If approved, the rack would be installed in the spring near the Geneva History Center, 113 S. Third St.

In 2008, city officials asked a bicycle-pedestrian subcommittee of the Strategic Plan Advisory Committee to figure out where to put more racks in the downtown, to encourage people to ride their bicycles.

The council will review the purchase at its committee-of-the-whole meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 22 S. First St.