All Artworks

Sheila Klein, Underground Girl

Underground Girl

Artist(s):

Project Description “Hollywood” connotes a place, a street, an industry, myth, fantasy and spectacle: a distinct culture known throughout the world. The core, or essence, of Hollywood prompted the artist/architect design team to consider, “What sleeps beneath the city at the corner of Hollywood and Highland?” and influenced the creation of a station that honors the cinematic, theatrical, and fantastical heritage that is Hollywood. The entrance to the station is announced with a sweeping metal canopy. Passengers entering the station are greeted by a dynamic display of artist-created images projected from theatrical lights suspended from a sculptural ceiling truss. The concrete station box has been transformed by this team into a telescoping, organic form where rhythmic breaks in the walls and ceiling panels reveal structural supports; in much the same way, movie or theater production stage sets, or the nearby Hollywood sign, are facades held in place. Sculptural forms are attached like organisms to the platform columns and boldly illuminate the station’s cavity. One has the sense of being in the depths of a giant …

Margaret Garcia, Tree of Califas

Tree of Califas

Artist(s):

Adjacent to the historic site of the Campo de Cahuenga where in 1847 Mexico relinquished control of California to the United States in the Treaty of Cahuenga, Tree of Califas draws its title from the the mythological black Amazon queen Califas who was said to have ruled a tribe of women warriors and after whom the Spaniards named California.

Terry Schoonhoven, Traveler

Traveler

Artist(s):

Traveler, a tile mural located at the bottom of the escalator at the east entrance of the subway station, depicts travelers from different eras in a Los Angeles “timescape” that features historical references such as Spanish galleons, the Pico House, Olvera Street and actress Carol Lombard.

The Steps We Take

Artist(s):

A series of four art panels depict momentary encounters of people crossing paths in their daily lives. The images visualize the movement, energy and unintentional patterns people create during their travels.

Carl Cheng, The Museum of Space Information

The Museum of Space Information

Artist(s):

Project Description Working with the station architect, artist Carl Cheng’s project, The Museum of Space Information refers to two significant and very different aspects of the local area: the coastal strip and the aerospace industry. Travelers move from an imaginary sea bottom on the lower level (even the landscaping has been designed to have an underwater appearance) upward into space to the platform level. Waiting beneath the translucent blue glass canopy, passengers feel as though they are inside a cool, ocean wave. A multitude of paving elements intrigue passengers as they wait for their train: these include imaginary galaxies, etched granite galaxy diagrams, embedded metal instruments, and even an imprint of man’s first step on the moon. A specially designed kaleidoscopic viewing lens provides passengers with a fish-eye view of moving street traffic below. Two “satellite” sculptures adorn the top of the elevator towers, transmitting continuous NASA programming and up-to-the-minute space flight information on platform level video monitors. Windscreens exhibit miniature cross-section environments of earth geology that reveal buried core samples of technology, rocks, and 20th-century artifacts. …

The Metro Machine

Artist(s):

Thinking metaphorically about the internal workings of the Metro system as a “well oiled machine,” the artist introduces shapes for train, bus and bicycle wheels and power gears all fluidly interconnected with a belt running throughout the floor design.

Christopher Dierdorff, The Intimacy of Place

The Intimacy of Place

Artist(s):

Project Description A sea of faces welcomes visitors to the station, a broad cultural mix of individuals who define life in the neighborhood. Dierdorff populated the station with intimate portraits of fronts and backs of heads as a commentary on public transportation, where people from many walks of life are removed from their personal spaces and find themselves in close physical proximity with strangers. The twelve individuals portrayed were photographed in locations that describe their role within the larger community. A variety of professions are represented, including a firefighter, a baker, a hat maker, and a mechanic, among others. Artist Statement “This sea of wondrous faces is Metro. Metro is not about people, Metro is people – thousands and thousands of different people every day. Each with their own story, their own worries, their own triumphs and their own tragedies – each different, each rare, each unique and each irreplaceable. The people who ride Metro every day are the same people from your favorite memory. They are your grandmother, your mother, your sister and your …

Walter Hood, The Crying Rock and Saint Monica's Tears

The Crying Rock and Saint Monica

Artist(s):

The sculpture’s monumental sandstone and hand-formed glass recall Kuruvungna, Saint Monica, the Crying Rock and the Palisades at the center of Downtown Santa Monica. Gold paint and climbing white roses adorn the station wall, glowing in the afternoon light, inviting pedestrians to weave through the sculpture and feel the awe of nature and heft of memory.