Artists Selected for Train Station Art

Public art enhances public space, and here at METRO, we want to make sure the artwork installed at our new light-rail stations embraces our city's diverse cultures and gives the neighborhood residents something they will enjoy.

We're one step closer now with a final list of artists who have been chosen - after an almost-year long process that involved numerous meetings and input from local residents and art critics.

Station art is vital, says Paul Mok, METRO's project director/architect, because it reflects on the community and lends a human touch to transit.

"It's an important link that transforms just a regular METRO station to a community METRO station," says Mok. "We want the residents to say, ‘This is our station,' instead of just saying, ‘This is a METRO station.'"

More than 260 artists applied for consideration - including from around the world - and it took almost a year to match artist to station. Forty artists were selected to be the finalists, and 36 submitted specific design proposals. Ultimately, 22 artists were chosen by the communities to produce specific artwork for the stations. Artists reshaped their proposals after listening to feedback from residents. Some of it was very specific.

For example, Mok says one community told an artist their streets used to be lined with magnolia trees - but today, only a few dot the landscape. The artist went back and incorporated a sea of magnolia trees, sandwiching the art in the windscreen at the station, a glass panel that blocks the wind.

The residents were pleased.

"The artists all seemed very receptive and responsive to the community's input," recalls Mok. "Even when the community expressed something negative, all the artists were very responsive and very respectful of the community's input."

Transit art keeps a train station from being generic, giving it character that reflects the neighborhood. It also gives an opportunity for local artists to showcase their talent and be compensated, says Mok. METRO's goal was to have 75 to 80 percent of the artists selected be local ones - and we achieved that goal with 86 percent local participation.  

But perhaps the most important aspect of transit art?

"The process helps bring the community together," says Mok. "It gives them a common cause and facilitates further dialogue between the community and METRO. That is a very constructive medium to conduct a conversation."

Here are 19 of the 22 winning artists who have been assigned stations:

For the East End Corridor: Ryan Geiger, Jesse Sifuentes, Dan Havel, Mary Lucking.

For the North Corridor: Dixie Friend Gay, Rolando Briseno, Arielle Masson, Leticia Huerta.

For the Southeast Corridor: Carroll Parrott Blue, Leamon Green, Jesse Lott, Paul Kittelson, Floyd Newsum, John Runnels, Sharon Engelstein,

For Uptown Corridor: Alan Krathaus, Roberto Cervantes, Dixie Friend Gay and Bill Davenport.

The pictures on this post are works by Floyd Newsum, Arielle Masson and Mary Lucking. These are not what will be at the stations but rather, pieces representative of their style.