Alhambra
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.
Through the Eyes of Artists was initiated in 2003 to creatively celebrate the many cities and neighborhoods Metro serves from the unique perspectives of artists. In the tradition of colorful travel destination posters, Metro Art commissions artists to capture the magic of these wonderfully varied places. Their artworks are then translated into elegant poster designs and displayed inside a fleet of more than 2,500 buses.
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.
Azusa Avenue, also known as Highway 39, is a scenic boulevard that leads to the San Gabriel Mountains.
This cityscape celebrates a natural refuge known for expansive vistas, which draw native wildlife and people alike.
Artist Sevag Mahserejian draws inspiration from the unaltered natural landscapes of Canoga Park and their relationship to the built environment in In What was here once before, an artwork created for the Through the Eyes of Artists poster series on display in the fleet.
Danny Heller illustrates a Chatsworth landmark, Stoney Point, while celebrating the classic car and equestrian cultures indicative of this unique part of Los Angeles County.
Trevino has adapted the Monkey King character from Chinese folklore to symbolically bridge the gap between Chinatown’s traditions and its emerging pop culture.
Jessica Polzin McCoy’s watercolor depicts 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.
In her photograph, Yardas, Sandra de la Loza depicts moments of vibrancy in a land of contrasts, where heavy industry meets small residential enclaves.
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.
Downey’s unique vintage charm and post-World War II industrialization is captured through the combination of muted and vibrant colors, as the artist interposes historic landmarks with railroad crossings and power lines.
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.
Each sign, like each street is unique and vital and part this urban village’s small town persona.
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.
Rodríguez illustrates how East Los Angeles cemeteries honor their diverse histories and reflect the community’s sense of family and soul.
Cosentino’s oil on canvas painting of Echo Park depicts an idyllic setting for a wide range of activities and festivals close to downtown.
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.
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.
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.
Beneath suspended power lines, a vibrant green garden blooms around a central figure working the land, calling to mind the many farms and nurseries that contributed to the development and naming of the city.
Local heritage, from the Brand Library to the Doctor’s House Museum, is artfully intertwined with elements of the city’s rich cultures and vibrant history.
Bob Zoell depicts Griffith Park as a whimsical, fun environment boasting many attractions.
Evans celebrates the city’s centennial and 100 years of beach culture by commemorating its groundbreaking lifeguard service, iconic pier and museum, a female surfing champion from the 1930’s and the quirky environment of surf and sand culture.
Dusk shrouds Highland Park homes and LA freeways while downtown’s skyscrapers are sihouetted against a fiery twilight.