In addition to integrating artwork at all Metro stations, we also offer transit riders the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of artworks through multiple exhibition series. The unique, site-specific formats range from neighborhood posters and photography to community art banners and most recently on TAP cards and digital screens at station platforms.
This new rider portrait exhibition on view in the Union Station Passageway Art Gallery and beyond celebrates diversity and the community of transit riders to launch upcoming programs across multiple formats and sites including buses, trains and stations in Los Angeles County and online. Tag your selfie #SomosWeAre to join in Metro’s portrait exhibition and share your journey, too!
The sea breeze flows at its own pace through a delightful stretch of shops, merging old and new together info vivid blocks of color.
Produced in 2021, An Ode To The Essential is a tribute dedicated to all essential workers and to those we have lost. The tribute features an original poem by Joseph Rios with text in a reflective gold reminiscent of the glow of afternoon light and suspended over a delicate line drawing of a distinctly Los Angeles cityscape by artist Manuel López.
Alhambra was the first city in California with an iron pipe irrigation system. The pipes frame the cultural icons and symbols of the city, including its founder, B.D. Wilson, and depict the community’s diversity, commerce and history.
Nature trails, train tracks, map fragments and names of local landmarks are nestled along sun-kissed mountain peaks and natural wonder that this independent, creative community in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains offers.
Limited edition TAP cards are Metro’s smallest artworks that fit inside pockets and accompany transit riders on their journeys.
Project Description Azusa Avenue, Highway 39, is a scenic boulevard that leads to the San Gabriel Mountains. Ohmit depicts the rows of old palm trees that mark the change from Southern California desert to rugged mountain terrain. Artist Statement “Calling itself the Canyon City, Azusa serves as the gateway to the San Gabriel Mountains. Clothed in late afternoon sunshine, majestic old palm trees line Azusa Avenue creating a dramatic entrance, rather like a fanfare announcing the abrupt transition from city to wilderness.” About the Artist MARY ANN OHMIT received a Bachelor of Arts from St. Cloud University in Minnesota. She taught art at Azusa High School for many years. Her work is exhibited in several galleries in California and Minnesota. Display year: 2011 – Locations: Azusa
Project Description This cityscape celebrates a natural refuge known for expansive vistas, which draw native wildlife and people alike. Artist Statement “My vision for the artwork imagines a Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook that is blooming with life through my hyperbolic drawings of oversized native plants and animals, surrounded by a city and draped on both sides with an expansive view. I used various computer generated color textures along with my hand drawn renditions of native plants and animals to create the landscape. My focus on the landscape and the native plants and animals is to emphasize to Metro riders the uniqueness of the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook as an “ecological island” in the Culver City neighborhood.” About the Artist MICHAEL C. HSIUNG (b. 1976, Los Angeles) was raised in the San Fernando Valley where exposure to skateboarding, heavy metal and Dungeons & Dragons fueled his imagination. He is a self-taught artist and illustrator known for his portly, bearded hybrid creatures and signature line-drawn style. Hsiung was born to Chinese-Taiwanese immigrants and studied English literature at San …
For Little Tokyo/Arts District Station, Hirokazu Kosaka created six smooth granite benches with concentric circles of black and white, simulating a Zen archery target with station canopies in the shape of Japanese archery bows. “Buffer Zone” was displayed at the station from 2009-2017 in coordination with the artist.
Project Description Heller illustrates a Chatsworth landmark, Stoney Point, while celebrating the classic car and equestrian cultures indicative of this unique part of Los Angeles County. Artist Statement “I really want to give a sense of the still very open landscape of this part of the valley. The classic car culture out here is pretty big and it helps to show the main thoroughfare through town: Topanga Canyon Blvd. Stoney Point/Rocky Peak is also an iconic feature of the landscape.” About the Artist DANNY HELLER is a painter from Northridge. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley where he studied the Los Angeles landscape. While under the instruction of the landscape painter Hank Pitcher, he earned a Bachelor of Art with emphasis in painting at the College of Creative Studies (University of California, Santa Barbara). Heller develops his works in his Chatsworth studio and depicts mid-century Los Angeles with a focus on architecture and car culture. His paintings have been exhibited at venues that include Judith Kaufman Gallery (CA), Art Basel (FL) and LA Art …
Trevino has adapted the Monkey King character from Chinese folklore to symbolically bridge the gap between Chinatown’s traditions and its emerging pop culture.
Project Description through the eyes of artist Jessica Polzin McCoy Delicate watercolors depict a college town that flourishes within the creative environment of The Claremont University Consortium, and opens an informal invitation to visit a backyard, ride a bike, step into a shady grove and attend school. Artist Statement “Every town is unique; it has specific characteristics, a visual identity. It was my goal to capture the identity of Claremont. It may not include everything that is meaningful, or the most easily identifiable places in the village, but as a whole it captures the tone, spirit, and colors of the environment. The streetscape was assembled using images of private homes, public buildings, and businesses within the boundaries of Claremont.” About the Artist JESSICA POLZIN McCOY is Assistant Professor of Art at Pitzer College, Claremont, CA. Her paintings have been exhibited at venues such as the Ontario Museum of Art, Columbus College of Art and Design, and the Porter Butts Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Grant …
Pinkney’s goal was to capture the energy and excitement of the City of Compton through local cultural icons (known and not so well-known) including: the Compton Airport, Compton Creek Horse Trail, Olympic Memorial Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and a skate park.
Deep Connections, an exhibition now on display in the Union Station Passageway Art Gallery, features the otherworldly black and white photography of artist Ken Karagozian.
Project Description Divining Los Angeles Landscapes: Woodlands to Watersheds On display in Union Station Passageway Art Gallery July 2015-July 2016 Photo based artworks by three artists invite visitors to Union Station to explore the histories, paradoxes, ironies and majesties of Los Angeles landscapes. The thirty-six illuminated color and black-and-white photographs on display in this passageway meander from ethereal botanical specimens at large scale to vistas of the wild urban edges, and the connective unnatural nature in between. Joyce Campbell – In the Ether Ken Gonzales-Day – Oak and Thistle: Views of the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains John Humble – Natura Urbanus About the Artist JOYCE CAMPBELL (b. 1971, New Zealand) earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Canterbury University and Master of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland, where she is pursuing a doctoral degree in creative practice. She has lectured at a number of universities, including California State University, Northridge, Claremont Graduate University, Scripps College, the University of Auckland Elam School of the Arts and the University of California, Irvine. Her interdisciplinary work has been …
Warm highlights accentuate the principally blue, painted composition in which variously scaled figures stroll, dine, shop, and cycle among charmingly detailed architectural facades, signage, sidewalk planters, and street trees.
Project Description It first appears that every street sign is the same, but upon closer inspection reveals a subtle survey of the history of the community. Each sign, like each street is unique and vital and part this urban village’s small town persona. Artist Statement “Over a number of days I collected nearly 200 unique street sign images. Over the grid of diverse street signs are images of the shadow of the Eagle Rock. Can you find them all? The streets are stand-ins for the diverse citizens, schools, restaurants, markets, cafes and modes of transportation. A contemporary look at the neighborhood yields quite different results than a look at the neighborhood of the past.” About the Artist ALEXIS DISSELKOEN was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is a multi-disciplinary artist who uses performance, photography, textiles and text to express her view of living in Los Angeles. She has presented her work at Eternal Telethon, Perform Wow!, Machine and Las Cienegas Projects. She is currently teaching at the Roski School of the Arts, University of Southern …
Project Description A bustling community, vibrant architectural façades and lush flora harmonize with the Hollywood landmarks dotting this cityscape’s mountainous backdrop. Celebrating the vitality and diversity of East Hollywood, a flagpole at the heart of this snapshot of daily life proudly reflects the neighborhood’s Armenian, Mexican, Salvadoran and Thai heritage. Artist Statement “Although East Hollywood is home to many cultural landmarks and important institutions, I chose to create a streetscape that represents a routine day, because what truly makes a neighborhood special are its residents and how they choose to engage with their environment.” About the Artist ANA SERRANO (b. 1983, Los Angeles) is best known for her colorful cardboard sculptures that explore how Latino communities alter and adorn the urban landscape. Serrano is a first-generation Mexican American Angeleno. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Art Center College of Design. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States, including locally at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Latin American Art, the Pasadena …
Rodríguez illustrates how East Los Angeles cemeteries honor their diverse histories and reflect the community’s sense of family and soul.
Project Description Cosentino’s oil on canvas of Echo Park depicts an idyllic setting for a wide range of activities and festivals close to downtown. Artist Statement “There it was all laid out before me: the palm trees, Echo Park Lake, the boathouse, Rafa doing Tai chi (like he did so many mornings) and breaking through the mist in the distance, the skyscrapers of Downtown.” About the Artist MANNY COSENTINO is an artist and art educator. He has exhibited in many Los Angeles galleries, including a solo exhibition at the Barnsdall Art Center in 1996 and the Landscapes 2003 Exhibition at the California State University, Los Angeles. Cosentino has also taught seminars in classical painting and drawing techniques at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Display year: 2004 – Locations: Echo Park
Project Description Sculptural olive trees align the streets along Valley Mall, the city’s bustling shopping district, and reference the original barrios. Flower and strawberry fields lie in the shade of the San Gabriel Mountains. Artist Statement “What began as a mere oasis along the Santa Fe Trail, became the final destination for many immigrants impressed by the undeniable qualities of El Monte. These groups settled in nine separate “barrios” which, over the years, built strong ties with one another, ties that eventually led to collective action in 1933 for improved treatment and wages.” About the Artist LOIS KELLER received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin, has exhibited throughout the United States and has worked as a scenic painter for the Cincinnati Opera and Ballet. Display year: 2006 – Locations: El Monte
Project Description The bold gaze of young Angelenos at the site of the original pueblo of Los Angeles offers a reminder that the city’s vibrant heritage lives on in future generations. Artist Statement “I have found the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument to be an educational portal for young people, including my own children. I have painted a picture that takes them back in time, educating and informing them of the history that gave birth to our city’s name, “La Reina de Los Angeles.” This painting serves as an introduction to the importance of its history and as an invitation across generations to take pride in the vibrant heritage that has led us to this place today.” About the Artist FABIAN DEBORA (b. 1975, El Paso, Texas) is a painter and muralist raised in Los Angeles’s Boyle Heights neighborhood. Early in his career, he interned with LA artist Wayne Healy and created murals with East Los Streetscapers. Today, his paintings are featured in exhibitions and on exterior walls throughout the Los Angeles region. In addition …
Beneath a gradient sky and full moon in Roberto Benavidez’s Gateway to El Sereno is El Sereno’s crown jewel: the undeveloped land of Ascot Hills Park.
Combining a dramatic indigo sky, romantic architecture, archival imagery, and a dense landscape of roses, Orlovski visually intertwines history and the natural world to depict a place that is both familiar and exotic, a place dreamed about and remembered.
Abstract art utilizes a visual language of shape, color, and line to depict a composition devoid of recognizable things from nature.
