It’s quite common to see a bicycle in Colorado. It’s not so common to see a bicycle carved out of a tree.

This year’s Roll Bike Art Festival opens Friday (Aug. 3) at Marmalade at Smokebrush, a downtown art gallery. The annual festival, which focuses on bicycle-themed artwork, is in its eighth year. Artwork will be on display through Oct. 20 in the Trestle Building, which houses Marmalade.

“This event has a lot of cross-pollination, and we like those sorts of things,” says Don Goede, executive director for the Smokebrush Foundation. “Folks can come out to see some good art, but also hear some good music. We have different things for different people.”

Several bike-themed activities will highlight opening night. For the first hour, visitors can try some Bicycle Yoga, in which they learn yoga postions that balance a typical hunched-forward cycling posture.

Afterward, Brendan Hannigan, of the Mobile Music Project, will share his “bike-powered stage” – pedaling provides the juice for the stage’s amplifiers. Volunteers can help power the amps for a performance by local band Mango fan Django.

Finally, the Springs’ own James McGraw will wow audiences with his flatland BMX show.

McGraw’s act “involves strength, balance and risk-taking,” says Amy Seltzer, the festival’s curatrix. “He does whatever he wants on a bike.”

As for the art, Seltzer says this year’s festival emphasizes works using bicycle parts. Abstract prints made with rusted bike chains and a corset constructed of bike inner tubes are two of the diverse offerings.

More traditional bike-themed pieces that include paintings, drawings, photos and sculptures – of wood and steel – also will be on display.

Goede says Colorado’s strong cycling culture gives the art a fitting home here. He hopes that Smokebrush can work with the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, the annual stage race held across Colorado in August (coming to Colorado Springs on Aug. 24).

Bikes serve to catch people’s attention in order to introduce them to something new in the art world.

“I love that about Colorado,” says Goede. “You can bring different kinds of people together around a common theme. You see a lot of bikes in the state, but someone will come here to find bikes and instead find something they were never expecting.”