CINCINNATI, OH.- Gear up for a thrilling ride through history, design and culture during the Cincinnati Art Museum’s exhibition Cycle Thru! The Art of the Bike on view April 4–August 24, 2025. The exhibition, which originated at The Church, Sag Harbor, New York, and is presented in partnership with The Bicycle Museum of America, New Bremen, Ohio, showcases bicycles spanning the 1860s to today, illustrating the design innovations—both functional and aesthetic—marking the vehicle’s development.

Highlights include more than 20 bicycles, including Pee-Wee Herman’s customized 1953 Schwinn DX Cruiser that starred in Tim Burton’s 1985 film, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, a rare cast iron “Boneshaker” velocipede manufactured in the mid-1800s, a 1901 Wolff-American Ice Bicycle engineered to traverse a frozen course and a seafoam green 1950s Huffy Radiobike designed so riders could cruise to their tunes of choice.

Visitors can 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.

Accompanying the bicycles are contemporary art by Jarbas Lopes, Bas Jan Ader, and Bari Kumar as well as selections from CAM’s collections of photographs by Christine Osinski, Aaron Siskind, and Ralph Steiner; women’s cycling wear from the 1900s; vintage circus posters; and prints by Jean Dubuffet, Oda Mayumi and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Cycle Thru! invites visitors to engage with the bicycle beyond its utilitarian function. It serves as an emblem of autonomy and freedom for individuals across diverse backgrounds and demographics. “The continued power of the bicycle as a vehicle for change and artistic inspiration comes to life in this multi-media presentation,” says Amy Dehan, Cincinnati Art Museum Curator of Decorative Arts & Design. “In partnership with Ohio’s Bicycle Museum of America, we bring you nostalgia, progress, and delight! Your soul will ‘pop a wheely!’”

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.