How should I turn an old children's bike into an art project?

Do not know how much time you have.
Go take some welding classes. You would be surprised what you can do with a welder.
You might find that the children’s bike can lead you to some exciting projects.

You could disassemble the bike and mount its parts on a huge wooden board (perhaps one that’s been painted) in a certain way so as to create a new image with the bike parts. You could also paint the parts in different ways. I did this with a camera once and it’s a pretty sweet art piece if I do say so myself.

Here is what one student did about turning bikes into art projects. Perhaps that will give you some ideas.

Take it totally apart. Paint each individual piece a different color. Reassemble.

Get some cheap picture frames, or some plywood and make some square wheels.

Oh, dude. What an awesome project.

Though, I can’t really help – unless I had a dismantled bike in front of me. That kind of creative eye only opens when I can see the individual parts and brainstorm. :[

Thanks all…keep the ideas coming! I’m leaning toward some sort of combination of the suggestions of PerryDolia and dynamicduo.

I stand by my earlier (private) suggestion.

By giving it to me so I have a way of getting to class that doesn’t involve walking three miles or paying out the nose for a commuter pass. :D

Just kidding, just kidding. A children’s bike is probably much too short for me anyway. I would personally love to see a brightly painted bike that’s been sculpted to look like a person with a briefcase/sachel/something adultish. I’m not entirely sure how you would do that (it would certainly take those welding classes ChazMaz mentioned), but I think it would look cool.

If you live near the ocean, tie it onto a mooring buoy and sink it for a number of weeks. When you pull it up, it will be completely crusted with barnacles, or maybe just artfully rusty. Instant garden art!

@ChazMaz is totally on target!!! Get thee to a welding class. Then trash pick a number of other bikes, and make yourself something totally awesome—like one of those bikes you see in a Seuss book.

Two words, metal bat, nothing aluminum it breaks too easy with metal on metal, just wack at it, bash it in, then when it’s malleable enough try and bend it back out for another shot of pain

Uh, I spray-painted mine gold, and put airplane stickers on the chain guard.

Readymade gave me the idea to turn wheels into a hanging pot rack…
Yes, ChazMaz!