SWAK Bike Rack Combines Public Art, Wellness

Cyclists riding along Kingston’s Cornell Street can now park and lock their bikes on a piece of public art at The Lace Mill.

Writer, artist and aerobics teacher Buddy Valentine in collaboration with Pioneer Agency was the winning designer of a 2017 bike rack competition made possible through a grant from APA NY Metro as part of the Plan4Health program.

This art-meets-wellness project is a partnership between City of Kingston / Live Well Kingston, Bike-Friendly Kingston, Kingston Greenline / The Kingston Land Trust and O+.

“Buddy Valentine’s bike rack, which references the designer’s pair of O+ murals that kiss across town, adds a new element of functional public art to Cornell Street,” said Aimee Gardner, O+ director of operations. “It’s a seamless blending of art and wellness.”

Two more of Buddy Valentine’s SWAK bike racks will be installed along Cornell Street soon!

“When I was a kid in the suburbs of Chicago and we’d drive into the big city, there was this giant sign shaped as a pair of red lips,” said Buddy Valentine. “It was along the highway as you approached the urban areas, for me a beacon of big, big dreams. My dream for the SWAK murals I’ve been fortunate to create with O+ and now this exciting bike rack project is that they’ll ignite excitement and big dreams in the same way, intriguing kids and adults alike about Kingston’s awesomeness.”

The bike racks were purchased through a Main Street Revitalization Program grant funded by Central Hudson.

O+ Hosts Opioid Panel, Forum, Narcan Training in Newburgh

O+ presents “Trends in Opioid Use, Treatment and Harm Reduction,” Thursday, May 31 at 5:15 p.m. at Grit Works, 115 Broadway in Newburgh. The free Educate & Activate panel and community forum focuses on opioid use trends in the Hudson Valley, plus harm reduction, treatment, first-person perspectives, and advocacy for harm reduction practices. A training for the opioid overdose prevention drug Narcan will also be provided.

“This life-affirming panel and forum aims to empower community members to take action and advocate for progressive drug policy and access to harm reduction means and treatment,” said Shannon Light, O+ nurse and director of the O+ Artists’ Clinic.

Listen to Shannon Light’s interview with Radio Woodstock’s Greg Gattine here:

 

Panelists include Dr. Maya Hambright, medical director of Samaritan Daytop Village’s Cape Road Residential Treatment Program in Ellenville, physician at Health Quest Medical Practice — Woodstock and a volunteer provider in the O+ Artists’ Clinic; Sean Tonner, outreach coordinator of Hudson Valley Community Services Syringe Exchange Program (SEP); Deb Greene, program director of RECAP’s New Life Manor; and Kathleen F. Morgan, chief operations officer of HONOR (Helping Others Needing Our Resources). Daniel Maughan, vice president of Transformation for St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, is the moderator.

HVCS and Catholic Charities Community Services of Orange and Sullivan will provide Narcan training and kits.

Refreshments will be served.

Partners for the May 31 event include RECAP, Hudson Valley Community Services and St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital.

Educate & Activate is a yearround O+ series of forums that brings together panels of health providers, non-profit organizations, local government leaders, educators and activists to discuss national health issues, their impact on local communities, and to convene community task forces to address them. It is sponsored by Health Quest.