We’re kicking off Women’s Bike Month by featuring a young woman artist from Cambridge and our newest unicorn bike designer: Alba Cruz-Pimentel
In 2019 The City of Cambridge in conjunction with Cambridge Public Schools hosted a contest for high school students to design their own Unicorn bike. Like many of the Bluebikes unicorns that celebrate specific neighborhoods, this bike was intended to give students a creative outlet to express their civic pride.
Artist Statement from Alba Cruz-Pimentel
"My teacher thought it would be a good idea for us to compete in the Bluebikes contest. I feel like Cambridge is very diverse, so I put a lot of color. I added some other things that reminded me of Cambridge, like the names of schools, and a few other little fun things just for people to look at."
Original decal design
Teacher Michele Watson Maxwell of The Rindge School of Technical Arts, brought the project to her students as part of their Creative Design program. “The RSTA offers Live Work & Contests to all scholars who are enrolled in the Creative Design Program...this BlueBikes project fit perfectly within the realm of our "live work" contests that students typically compete in.”
Cara Seiderman from the Cambridge Community Development Department had this to say about the contest: “We are delighted to introduce Cambridge’s first unicorn Bluebike! This beautiful and vibrant design was created by Alba Cruz-Pimentel, a Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School student; hers was the winning submission in the Cambridge Bluebikes Unicorn Design Contest.”
Alba Cruz-Pimentel deploying her bike into the Bluebikes system
After the designs were completed, the bike was planned to be revealed in April, but the COVID pandemic prevented the unveiling of this fabulous Unicorn bike...until now! The Cambridge Unicorn has been deployed and is now live in the Bluebikes fleet. Keep your eye out for this spectacular bike!