The annual Papio Kinetic Sculpture and Art Bike Parade — a family-friendly, art-inspired, human-powered mobile sculpture and art-bike parade that celebrates creativity and innovation using recycled materials — is set to roll down the length of Duval Street on Saturday, April 22, which also happens to be Earth Day. Mobile sculptures and art bikes will launch at noon from the Key West Museum of Art & History, traveling the full length of Duval Street to the Southernmost Pocket Park where a block party and awards ceremony celebration will take place from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Southernmost Beach Café will have a cash bar and food for purchase during the award ceremony.
The parade celebrates imagination and encourages the use of reused materials, all while honoring Stanley Papio, a pioneering Florida Keys folk artist whose recycled metal sculptures teem with satire, tenacity and innovation. The country’s first Kinetic Sculpture Race rolled out in Ferndale, California in 1969, igniting a craze that later grew to include national race events in Philadelphia, Baltimore and elsewhere. Since then, other communities, including Key West, have hosted kinetic events, offering their own variation of these floats-with-moving-parts parades.
When kicking off its own parade in 2016, the Key West Art & Historical Society took the region’s laid-back attitude and eco-friendliness into account, eliminating the “race” component and adding the element of “art bikes” for the town known for its pedaling revelers. Arising from a long-percolating idea, the project won the support of a prestigious Knight Arts Challenge grant, along with additional support from the Helmerich Trust, the Community Foundation of the Florida Keys and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.
In years past, Papio Parade spectators have been treated to the sight of inspired, entirely human-powered works of art, including a supersized narwhal that winked at onlookers, a pelican whose wings flapped as it towed parasailing minnows, an eagle ray powered by three bicycling men dressed as remoras, a race car with an engine made of discarded plumbing parts, and a 30-foot-long iguana fashioned from scrap cardboard spines. With 2023 creations underway by several “Papio Ambassador” artist teams and several school registrants supported by scholarships, this year’s parade promises to offer another visual feast for the eyes.
A number of local schools have constructed art bikes for the parade, including May Sands Montessori, Grace Lutheran, Key West Art & Historical Society’s ArtCamp! and the Montessori Children’s School.More information is at papiokineticparade.com.
