All Artworks

VAN NUYS, The New Town

Artist(s):

Project Description Roxene Rockwell designed terrazzo paving areas and porcelain enamel steel panels for station platforms. Wheat and sugar beet fields are reminders of what was here before Van Nuys was subdivided in 1911. The chicken represents the chicken farms that existed in north Van Nuys and the floating musical notes draw attention to the fact that organs were produced for the silent movie theaters within walking distance of this station. The many twinkling lights seen from the hill above represent the Van Nuys that we know today. Artist Statement “As a fourth generation Angelino I have been fascinated with the continuing transformation of this city. I wanted to infuse my work at this station with the rich history of Van Nuys.” About the Artist   ROXENE ROCKWELL, M.A. is a mixed media artist who exhibits in group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States.  Rockwell’s exhibitions have included solo exhibits at Louis Stern Fine Arts in Los Angeles and the Robert V. Fullerton Museum in San Bernardino.  Her group exhibitions include the Southern California landscape …

John Roloff, "Valley Scan" (station view)

Valley Scan

Artist(s):

John Roloff’s artwork at Woodley Station references the geological make up of the Van Nuys, Sepulveda and San Fernando Valley area as well as paying homage to the geologists who study the Valley.

Elon Schoenholz, Urban Forest

Urban Forest

Artist(s):

The images emphasize a prominent feature of Los Angeles neighborhoods that visually characterizes the cityscape, yet often goes unnoticed. Celebrating human ingenuity and labor, the series also investigates our relationship to the flora around us.

Urban Excavation: Ancestors, Avatars, Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, Casts, Copies, Deities, Figures, Funerary Objects, Gods, Guardians, Mermaids, Metaphors, Mothers, Possessions, Sages, Spirits, Symbols, and Other Objects

Artist(s):

Inspired by the idea of transporting the body and mind, and by the station as an excavation site, Ken Gonzales-Day‘s glass-tile mural for the north and south concourse level walls aims to transport transit customers across time and place by immersing them in an environment where images of objects—spanning many cultures, continents and eras—mined from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s permanent collection are reproduced at an enormous scale.

Urban Dualities

Artist(s):

At Jefferson/USC Station, Samuel Rodriguez weaves a visual narrative that includes fragments of building facades, vintage rail cars, human figures, and fictional characters. Each art panel is visually divided by the silhouette of bike frames, the layout of a comic book.

May Sun, Untitled - Sun

Untitled

Artist(s):

Project Description The artist/architect team design for the Hollywood/Western Station attempts to reclaim the past for the future. The design pays homage to the native Mestizo heritage and original European settlement as well as to the panethnic backgrounds of more recent immigrants who constitute a large portion of Metro Rail users. Artist May Sun created copper, granite and porcelain enamel panels with text and photographs set in a field of randomly-colored wall tiles. The panels depict bones of early camel, horse, and bison from excavations at the site, statements about Gabrielino life in the area, images of workers building the station and their counterparts on the old Red Car system, and images of the adjacent neighborhood. As a tribute to the Red Car system that ended its service to Hollywood in the early 1940s, two replicas of the old Pacific Electric Red Cars protrude from the mezzanine wall, allowing passengers to reminisce about the past while contemplating what the future may hold. Passengers will also find a station floor enhanced with bright granite pavers, some …

George Stone, Untitled - Stone

Untitled

Artist(s):

Glass-clad columns with shaped metal capitals provide stark contrast to the beauty of natural-looking rock formations found at all levels of the station, including the entrance area.

Renée Petropoulos, Untitled - Petropoulos

Untitled

Artist(s):

Project Description Renée Petropoulos explores the notion of a location’s identifying landmarks. In this station, large vibrantly-colored medallions, or shields, reflect the neighborhood’s industrial landscape and complex machinery, and transform the station into a bold landmark. A sculptural air-ventilator tower circles above the station while the girders supporting the canopy resemble crisscrossing electrical towers. Benches are reminiscent of industrial tools and gears. Passengers can explore the idea of location as they are engulfed by conjugations of the verb “to be”; subtle area maps incorporated into the station platform and stairwells include the names of people who worked on the station’s construction. At the plaza level, a complex and colorful terrazzo paving pattern greets passengers. Fragments of private conversations are embossed into the concrete stair risers, interjecting the intimacy of private space into this very public location. The act of viewing is conceptualized throughout the station: handrails house eyes, silkscreened on the elevator glass frames both the viewer and the landscape, and viewing tubes locate various landmarks in the area while simultaneously allowing passengers to focus …

Robert Millar, Untitled – Millar

Untitled

Artist(s):

Project Description Strong form, dynamic space, texture, and an emphasis on both natural and artificial light identify this elegant award-winning station designed by architect Ellerbe Becket, Inc. in collaboration with artist Robert Millar. By questioning the very nature of place versus space, the artist and architect seek to heighten our awareness of our location within the urban environment. The main entrance is marked by a bold architect-designed stainless steel “wing” canopy, and the artist-designed space beneath is punctuated by subtle skylights which flood the 42-foot high space with daylight. At night, on the street level, these skylights become a brightly lit “stage” made available to performing arts groups. Reflecting his inquiry into issues related to the project, artist Robert Millar layered thousands of subtly painted questions onto the concrete surfaces of the main entryway. As escalators carry riders through this space, overhead beams rhythmically reveal polycarbonate and aluminum paintings while natural and colored fluorescent lights reflect on their undulating surfaces. The team worked with the nearby Braille Institute and LA City College to incorporate a …

Tony Gleaton, Untitled - Gleaton

Untitled

Artist(s):

Project Description As commuters make their way from the Sierra Madre Villa Parking and Bus Facility at the terminus of the Metro L Line (Gold) to Pasadena, they enter a steel mesh-enclosed pedestrian bridge with cool blue painted structural beams and posts. As they reach the end of this walkway and enter the station’s stairwells leading to the platform level, they are confronted by Tony Gleaton’s large photographic portraits suspended some 15-feet above them. Printed on two double-sided porcelain enamel steel panels and visible from both directions, the blue-toned portraits echo the blue enclosure of the bridge, and depict local inhabitants the artist describes as “the others.” These photographs reflect the distinct differences and diversity between us all, and mirror the connecting glance, embrace, and human emotion we share and understand together. About the Artist TONY GLEATON has pursued an artistic career as a photographer since 1974. His interest in rodeo performers and black and Native American cowboys influenced a series of portraits of African-, Native-, Euro-, Mexican, and Mexican-American cowboys shot throughout Texas, Colorado, Nevada, …

Preliminary sketches of artwork concept, and sketches of proposed elements to build artwork.

Untitled

Artist(s):

This site-specific project will consist of hundreds of small, metal, multicolored components that will be woven, cross stitch-like, into the building’s façade, creating a complex, abstracted landscape that will colorfully weave its way around part of the building.

The People United (“El pueblo unido jamás será vencido,” Sergio Ortega and Quilapayun; “Brown Beret 13 Point Political Program,” La Causa)

Artist(s):

For her artwork, Andrea Bowers will imbue the glass walls of the station’s entrance pavilion with messages of unity and democracy through her translation of the slogans “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido” (The people united will never be divided) and “By independence we mean the right to self-determination, self-government and freedom.”

over-under-over

Artist(s):

Ann Hamilton’s artwork will wrap the station’s glass entry pavilion in woven lines inspired by the significance of the station’s downtown location and the surrounding hub of cultural institutions as a place of crossings, intersections and exchanges.

Tom LaDuke, "Unknowable Origins" (study for one of eight art panels)

Unknowable Origins

Artist(s):

In “Unknowable Origins” by artist Tom LaDuke, softly rendered painterly views of Culver City as seen from surrounding hillside viewpoints frame the entry to the Culver City Station.

Stephen Johnson, Universal Delights

Universal Delights

Artist(s):

Stephen Johnson’s Universal Delights commemorates the birthplace of ‘the industry’ noting the 1915 dedication of Carl Laemmle’s Universal Film Manufacturing Company in the area.

Thomas Eatherton, "Unity"

Unity

Artist(s):

Thomas Eatherton’s “Unity” located on the A Line (Blue) tunnel walls between 7th Street/Metro Center Station and Pico Station was the first art work to be installed in the system.