My father fancies himself a cyclist, and whenever I find myself sprawling on the kitchen floor, a spiky metal thing embedded in my foot, I would like to create some "bike art" of my very own. But if I did, it probably wouldn't be as good as the work at this year's fourth annual Bike Part Art Show. Nor would it benefit Neighborhood Bike Works, the 10-year-old West Philadelphia nonprofit that teaches kids about bike safety and repair and lets them keep donated bikes that the kids have fixed up themselves.

Nearly 50 new and returning artists and collectives—almost all local and including Rachel Braun (a detail of whose work House on Stilts is pictured), Randall Cleaver, Kathryn Pannepacker and co-founder Molly Mullahy—rifled through NBW's bins at the open-call "Art Raid" several months ago; all profits from sales of the resulting art will go to NBW. "What's really fun about the show, having done it so many times, is seeing how artists come up with such different things," says Carol Cole, a member of found-object art group Dumpster Divers and a four-year veteran of the show. Gears, pedals, spokes and other spiky things become part of a quite astonishing range of works. "When people think about found-object art they don't necessarily think about this level of quality, but every year I've been really impressed," says Sue Ellen Klein, board member of NBW and chairwoman and other founder of the show.

Even if you're too lazy to ever ride a bike, head over to see sleek sculptures, kitschy sculptures, clocks, furniture, futuristic jewelry, even watercolor paintings. This year's collection includes a 10-foot (and how many speeds?) bike and—this is scarier than my personal traumas—a boa constrictor made from tires. Boa constrictors are silent killers, but Thursday night's opening reception and silent auction should be fun and not deadly at all.

Bike Part Art Show, opening reception Thu., July 6, 6-9 p.m., runs through July 21 (closing reception 6-9 p.m.), Nexus Foundation for Today's Art, 137 N. Second St., 215-629-1103, www.neighborhoodbikeworks.org.