Cycle Thru! The Art of the Bike

Friday, April 4–Sunday, August 24, 2025

The Thomas R. Schiff Gallery (Gallery 234 & 235)
Ticketed. Free for members.
Friends of Decorative Arts

Gear up to see a Dexter “Boneshaker” velocipede manufactured in 1869, a 1901 Wolff-American Ice Bicycle engineered to traverse a frozen course, a seafoam green 1950s Huffy Radiobike  designed so riders could cruise to their tunes of choice, and Pee-Wee Herman’s customized 1953 Schwinn DX Cruiser starring in Tim Burton’s 1985 film, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. These are just a few of the highlights waiting for you to discover in Cycle Thru! The Art of the Bike, an exhibition featuring the bicycle as a way to explore intersections of history, popular culture, design, and modern and contemporary art.

Spanning the 1860s to today, over 20 bicycles from The Bicycle Museum of America in New Bremen, Ohio, illustrate the design innovations—both functional and aesthetic—marking the vehicle’s development. Paired with contemporary art by Jarbas Lopes, Bas Jan Ader, and Bari Kumar—as well as selections from the Cincinnati Art Museum’s collections of photographs, fashion, posters and paintings—visitors can pedal thru and ponder the role of the bicycle as an evolving icon, a connector of cultures, and a vehicle for autonomy and freedom to all, regardless of age, gender, and geography.

Cycle Thru! The Art of the Bike originated at The Church, Sag Harbor, New York, as Re:Cycle—The Ubiquitous Bike, October 8–December 31, 2023, and is organized in partnership with The Bicycle Museum of America, New Bremen, Ohio.

Accessing the Exhibition

Elevators A and B provide the most direct access to this second-floor exhibition. Visitors may enter and exit the exhibition via short stairways or via a ramp, located in Gallery 234. Seating is provided within the exhibition gallery. Large print label booklets are available in the gallery and online. Audio of select exhibition interpretation is available online and on the Bloomberg Connects app. For fidgets, social narratives, sensory headphones, and other tools, visit the CAM Access Cart. The Access Cart is located in the Schmidlapp Gallery (first floor, Gallery 151) just beyond the museum’s front lobby.