Alamo Biscuit Co owner John Vale and artist Nicholas Monroe ride in style. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Alamo Biscuit
A new public art display downtown puts spectators in the driver’s seat — literally.
San Antonio restaurant chain Alamo Biscuit Co. unveiled the two pieces of art this week at its River Walk location — a sculpture of a bike with colorful concha pastries as wheels that’s larger enough for visitors to actually sit on, and a mural behind the installation reads, “You are the art.”
The items are in the center of the restaurant’s patio and adjacent its newly completed outdoor bar. Inspired by a similar but much smaller concha bike installed at the chain’s Medical Center location, the downtown sculpture is a large, double-seated contraption designed by the same creative spirit, artist Nicholas Monroe.
The San Antonio-based artist worked with Alamo Biscuit owner John Vale to create the first concha bike along with concha-shaped umbrellas that cover the tables of the River Walk eatery.
For Monroe, public art is rooted in participation, and the new mural and bike are meant to spark joy, connection and reflection.
“I am the art. I am the center. I am purposeful. I am meaningful,” Monroe said. “It’s a reminder of that, but also an invitation to get on the bike and be part of the art.”
To create the bike, Monroe partnered with Metalmuse Studio’s Nick Gularte to design and build the sculpture. It’s twice the size of the piece in the Medical Center restaurant.
Alamo Biscuit owner Vale said his mission for the installation is to give people a reason to stay downtown and experience the River Walk in a new way.
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The installation stands in front of a mural at downtown eatery Alamo Biscuit Co. that reads, “‘You are the art.’