Author: Metro Art

Metro Art Presents

Metro Art Presents (MAP) showcases an exciting year-round array of arts and cultural events at historic Union Station—and beyond. From music and dance performances, film screenings and poetry readings to experimental and mixed-media presentations, the programs creatively activate downtown’s primary transportation hub for all ages.

MAPPING Performance: 10 Years of Metro Art Presents

Hosted at Los Angeles Union Station (800 N Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90012), MAPPING Performance: 10 Years of Metro Art Presents celebrates with percussion-driven music and dance drawing from Southeast Asian and Afro-Brazilian traditions, bringing the community together in the heart of Los Angeles at the heart of the LA Metro transit system. Saturday, June 24, 2023 – Sunday, June 25, 2023.

Metro Art Presents Grupo Bella and Kingston Ska Collective at Union Station Holiday Tree Lighting

About the Event Enjoy live music from Grupo Bella and Kingston Ska Collective featuring members of Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra and vocalist Jesse Wagner, programmed by Metro Art Presents for the Union Station Goliday Tree Lighting on Tuesday, November 29, 2022 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Iconic Union Station will become a hub for the holidays, summoning the sights and sounds of the season with the 7th Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony under the stars in the Station’s South Patio. To kick off the season, the historic Station will illuminate a towering 35-foot tree as guests are immersed in thousands of glistening lights on the South Patio while enjoying a free hot cocoa and holiday cookie bar. The fun, festive, family-friendly celebration will also feature a holiday arts and crafts zone, custom photo ops and Santa selfies, an appearance by VIP guests from the North Pole to vault visitors into the holiday spirit and more.   Featured Artists Kingston Ska Collective, featuring members of Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra, is best described as Duke Ellington meets Jamaica. The …

People Over Profit

Artist(s):

Meleko Mokgosi’s platform level station artwork will recognize everyday people who work in Beverly Hills. The artwork will celebrate both the important work of historic labor leaders who fought for worker’s rights, and contemporary workers

Gathering of the Waters

Artist(s):

Rigo 23’s artwork engages Beverly Hills’ history as Tongva land and a place called “a gathering of waters.” In the artwork, water will be depicted in different stages of stillness and motion, animated as the Metro rider walks by. A waterscape framed by plant life strengthens connectedness to the natural world and history’s slower tempo, while also offering a respite from the hustle and bustle of the commute. Enlarged portraits of indigenous plants represent gifts to Spanish explorer Portola’s expedition by local Tongva representatives, a gesture of welcoming and generosity at the center of Los Angeles’ origin story. This generosity would not be reciprocated by the waves of European arrivals. The Tongva people and their culture were nearly erased by foreign cultural and religious impositions as well as the introduction of diseases to which the locals had no defenses. This project aims to contribute to the reversal of a multi-century long process of erasure, forgetting and replacing.

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Artist(s):

Sarah Cain’s artwork for the station’s entrance is intended to be a welcoming, oasis of color and design in contrast to the density of metallic high-rise buildings in Century City.

Allegorical Portal to the City Within a City

Artist(s):

Phung Huynh explores the origin story of Century City through her unique approach of urban folklore and community voices. The artwork will include portraits of recognizable actors from the area’s early history as a film studio back lot and renowned architects who built Century City, as well as everyday people who work and own businesses in the area.

Lenticular Americana

Artist(s):

Oscar Magallanes was inspired by Century City’s history in the motion pictures industry. Their design for the station artwork weaves together a narrative of stories told through film and the complex histories of the communities surrounding the future station.

Terra Firma

Artist(s):

Analia Saban is creating a semi-fictional underground world constructed in geologic layers of color and texture. Buried in the layers, riders will find an unexpected montage of objects from symbols of local culture to prehistoric fossils found during Metro’s station excavation.

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Artist(s):

Moses X Ball’s inspiration for his design of the platform artwork is driven by his experiences growing up in South Central Los Angeles and riding public transit to visit the museums along Wilshire Boulevard at a young age.

Memories

Artist(s):

Karen Hampton’s artwork for the Northeast Entrance draws inspiration from her childhood experiences riding the RTD bus along Wilshire Blvd, examining how travel can broaden one’s access to different cultures.

A Panorama of the City and History of Los Angeles from Pre-History to the Present Day

Artist(s):

Sandow Birk’s artwork will depict a panorama of Los Angeles over 150 feet long focusing on the area around the future station and beyond. The scene spans millennia, as prehistoric creatures roam past historic and contemporary buildings such as the Wadsworth Chapel, the oldest building on Wilshire Blvd., the gates to the VA with the National Soldiers Home plaques, and the main hospital at the West LA VA Medical Center that was built in 1977.