Guerrilla Artist Puts Artsy Chairs at Bus Stops
Monday, August 1, 2011
By: Mark Simpson

August 01, 2011 | WMFE -It's not always easy to ride Central Florida's public bus system known as Lynx. It's not that there's anything wrong with the buses, but the environment of Florida itself can making the wait for the bus close to unbearable. Weather in Florida, especially in the summer months can turn from brutally hot, to tropical downpour in just a few moments. The reality of waiting for Lynx buses is that not all bus stops are created equal. Some are quite fancy with a roof and open setup, some bus stops offer a 3-sided shelter, others a hurricane resistant bench, and others are just a pole in the ground. It's those minimalist bus stops that got Rollins College Environmental Studies senior Brendan O'Connor thinking about ways to make a difference. He came up with what he calls "The Sit Project", "It's a neighborhood solidarity thing. You see something that needs a little help and you can go out and do it. Why just sit on your butt if you see a problem?"

When O’Connor puts chairs on the street, he looks for a bus stop that needs a little more support.  Sometimes the location is near a business or a busy intersection.  It’s guerrilla art meets good will.  Usually the best time to place “sit chair” is in the evening.  The best kind of sit chair is a free one.

  O’Connor has been quietly refurbishing what other people don’t want.  Wicker is good, sometimes metal, or plastic.  A fresh coat of pain, some structural re-enforcement, maybe a parasol.  He says his first time putting out a chair actually got him yelled at by a passer by, but encouragement from others urged him to keep going.

Now two years and over 100 chairs later O’Connor’s efforts are getting more attention.  Local community group the Mills 50 Mainstreet District is taking an interest in the project.  They are working out a deal with a local hardware store to purchase materials to start securing the chairs around the bus stops.  O’Connor says chairs can last anywhere from an hour to seven months before someone usually decides to keep it for themselves.  Joanne Grant, the director of Mills 50, says she started getting questions from around the community about the mysterious chairs that kept cropping up at Lynx Bus stops, a recent write up in the Orlando Sentinel gave her a tip-off, “I wanted to see if we could partner to keep the chairs at the bus stops….We don’t have enough right of way to build bus stops where people can sit.”

     Lynx has more than three thousand stops across Orange County.  Only 450 have a shelter or some sort, close to eleven-hundred have benches, and nearly eighteen hundred are just a pole in the ground.  We asked about the standards for Lynx bus stops, in an email spokeswoman Kathy Shaw Clary wrote, “The minimum amount of right of way when we have raised curb and sidewalk is 8 feet.   Safety is our number one priority with both our employees and our passengers.  Regulations within the three major counties and local jurisdictions vary.  In addition, LYNX needs the approval of the adjacent property owners, and zoning regulations are a consideration as well.” She also wrote that Lynx does not have a position on O’Connor’s “Sit Project.”

Brendan O'Connor says he plans to keep working on the "Sit Chairs".  He grows cotton in his yard, along with other plants, and is considering ways to use them in this and other projects as well.

Click Here to Listen to O'Connor talk about what makes a good "Sit Chair".