For The Love of Essential Workers

Project Description

In the spirit of promoting and highlighting uplifting messages about connecting with and caring for one another during challenging times and beyond, Metro piloted a new series, Silver Linings. Local artists were commissioned to create original artworks that visualize and encourage expressions of connection and care. Artworks created for the series were reproduced for digital and print display in Metro’s transportation system to serve as reminders that acts of care, however large or small, are also essential and can be the silver lining on tough days.

These new artworks were featured as posters in Metro buses from December 2020 through July 2021.

Artist Statement

“The valuable services provided by essential workers and the power of arts and culture are heightened during challenging times.”

About the Artist

STEPHANIE MERCADO  (Los Angeles, California) Stephanie Mercado is an interdisciplinary artist, arts administrator and teaching artist from the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. Focused on the workforce, manual labor, and empowerment, her work pays homage to the dignity and contributions of others. Mercado uses traditional printmaking techniques to highlight the intimate link between laborers and their craft, emphasizing the transformative power of work. Mercado received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from California State University Long Beach. She has exhibited internationally, including exhibitions in Norway and Cuba. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Tamarind Institute of Lithography, New Mexico, and the Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, Texas. 