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.
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.
In For Your Intellectual Entertainment, a thirty foot wire-mesh hand is poised to launch, with the help of a slingshot, a giant “paper” airplane off one end of the platform.
Artist Charles Dickson sought to reflect the community’s contribution to preserving the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, and to call attention to the parallels between nature and the development of aerospace technology that has played an important role in the area surrounding the Mariposa Station.
Here: Arts and Culture Along the K is a companion publication to the multimedia art exhibition showcasing the Metro Art K Line art program at the Museum of African American Art at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.
Rebeca Méndez’s two mosaic murals transform the concourse wall into a sublime panorama of the sky as seen from Los Angeles. Articulating the progression of time over 24 hours, vertical segments portraying the stars and the moon flank an ethereal cloud-scattered azure.
Carlson Hatton’s densely layered, rhythmic murals capture the soundtrack of Hyde Park and its surrounding areas.
Kim Schoenstadt’s murals portray hybrid structures based on existing and historical buildings from the surrounding Inglewood neighborhood, including the Broadway Federal Bank, Centinela Adobe, Crozier Middle School, Jet Car Wash, Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building and Randy’s Donuts, to name a few.
Erwin Redl’s dynamic artwork Inside Out – Outside In – Inside Out at the street-level entrance of Expo/Crenshaw Station takes advantage of the changing position of the sun to reflect an array of colors onto surrounding surfaces by day and transforms the glazed pavilion into an illuminated jewel box by night.
Jaime Scholnick’s frieze-like collages are based on hundreds of studies and more than 11,800 photographs of the surrounding neighborhood. Progressing from dawn to night, the artist spent many hours documenting the area around the station and talking to local residents about their visions for the artwork.
Mara Lonner’s artwork is inspired by the surrounding Leimert Park neighborhood, of which she was a long-time resident.
Shinique Smith’s mosaic mural playfully visualizes the cultural richness of South Los Angeles by collaging elements pulled from fashion, pop culture and calligraphy. Honoring the station’s namesake, the artwork also includes a selection of empowering words inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches and autobiography.
Sherin Guirguis’s richly colored artworks reflect the countless individuals who have migrated to the area, many of whom have risen above tremendous obstacles.
Kenturah Davis created Sonder with the aim to encourage connections between strangers, even temporarily while riding transit.
Ingrid Calame collaborated with youth through the RightWay Foundation to create rubbings of the physical environment—from furniture and instruments to architectural elements such as doorways and signs, all found in the neighborhood.
Dean Erdmann’s porcelain enamel art panels depict double-exposed photographs of natural elements in Leimert Park interspersed with images of the transit environment.
Mickalene Thomas’s mosaic was inspired by the quality of light, cultural and visual richness, and iconic structures in the surrounding Leimert Park neighborhood.
Rendered with bold, flat colors on a stark backdrop, Geoff McFetridge’s striking artworks depict communities of people interacting with large abstract shapes.
Eileen Cowin aims to spark the imaginations of transit riders through a poetic juxtaposition of photographic vignettes inspired by the potential stories of passersby.
Metro’s LAX/Metro Transit Center Station is a major new multimodal transit hub that will provide a gateway connection between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Metro’s regional transit system. LAX/MTC is part of the K Line, near Aviation Blvd/96th Street, and is designed in sync with an Automated People Mover (APM) being built and operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). Read more about the transit project here.
The We Are… rider portrait exhibition celebrates diversity and the community of transit riders across multiple formats and sites including buses, trains and stations in Los Angeles County and online. Tag your selfie #SomosWeAreLA to join in Metro’s portrait exhibition and share your journey, too!
The K Line serves the communities from West Adams/Jefferson Park to the South Bay with 18 artworks integrated at all stations.
On view through May 12, 2024
Anthology of Leimert combines footage from three separate days that honors Leimert Park Plaza as an integral third place. Blending footage from an everyday walk in Leimert Park Plaza, a drum circle, and the kickoff event of Annual Day of the Ancestors, the artworks displays the experience of being in Leimert Park.
Puffing with Patties to Leimert Park is an animation featuring a mini, magical Afro-Cuban breakfast train as it travels through Downtown Los Angles to Leimert Park.
