Located near the confluence of the Arroyo Seco and the Los Angeles River, the Lincoln/Cypress station location for “Water Street: River of Dreams” provided artist Cheri Gaulke with an important reference for that she used to metaphorically connect the Gabrielino (Tongva) Indians who once inhabited the area with a contemporary flowing landscape.
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, …
Playing with scale and our imagination, the metaphor of discovery and wonder is discovered here in the form of transportation, where the light rail becomes the “looking glass” into the undiscovered world.
Wheels of Change by Chusien Chang at the Chinatown Station is based on the ancient Chinese book of I Ching (translated as Book of Changes)
The Memorial Park Station inspired John Valadez to honor the area’s earliest indigenous artists, whose ancient pictographs and carvings have been discovered in caves and on rock cliffs and natural outcroppings throughout Southern California.
Inspired by the classic style of the Anasazi, Maya and Aztec Pre-Columbian cultures, the artwork is infused with a modern sensibility and stands as a metaphor for the relationship between nature, society and the sacred.
Project Description Artist Jud Fine took his cue for the station artwork from the Greene & Greene-designed Oaklawn Waiting Station, built in 1906 on Fair Oaks Avenue. For the station project, Fine created an 18-foot tall copper-bound “Stone Tree” with bluntly cut limbs that rise staunchly amidst a backdrop of heavy wood beams and arroyo stones. Referencing the mythical tree of life, it stands as a formidable icon to the Craftsman Style of architecture known throughout the area, and represents the movement’s joining together of natural elements and human design. Fine’s replicated tree is reminiscent of the ficus trees that line the streets throughout Highland Park. Two elderly examples of these trees still exist on Avenue 58 adjacent to the station, and have “enveloped” their original steel tree cages just as Fine’s “Stone Tree” is burgeoning around its wrapped copper cable. On the station’s platform, two canopy-support posts turned topsy-turvy with structural limbs anchored to the ground provide seating for waiting passengers. Referred to as “Inverted Post” by the artist, these elements represent a counterpoint …
Roy Nicholson’s artwork for two facing concrete wall locations at a below grade portal celebrates the natural beauty of Los Angeles’ favorable geographic position on the 34th parallel.
Spirit of the San Gabriel River by Andrea Myklebust and Stanton Gray Sears honors the various communities that over the centuries have benefitted from the rich Duarte-area landscape and nearby San Gabriel River.
In a landscaped area before the entry ramps, a seven-foot-high sculptural rock—shaped by river water over thousands of years—is encircled by a “pool” of handmade glass bricks set in a concrete slab.
Project Description Passengers are greeted at Allen Station, situated along the 210 Freeway median, by Michael Amescua’s dramatic grillwork adorning the street-level entrance. Amescua’s series of steel panels, created in the tradition of papel picado, or punched paper, are painted a deep forest green with brushed stainless steel and red enamel accents, and forms a relief against a golden ceramic tile wall. Papel picado is a folk art that can be traced back to pre-Columbian times, when Mexicans used cutout bark paper depicting a variety of human and animal spirits as offerings to the gods, as a tribute to the Aztec emperor, Moctezuma II, and as decoration in their temples and palaces. Amescua’s panels depict a family of figures and a dog in a mystical romp through the region’s rich flora and fauna—an idyllic background scene that includes a sun and moon, stars that morph into birds, palm and pine trees, mountains and arroyo, river boulders, and rail tracks. These images mimic the surroundings that can be viewed from the station platform above. Another panel …
Robin Brailsford’s Pioneros de la Rivera de San Gabriel (pioneers of the San Gabriel River, 2015) celebrates the pioneering spirit of the area’s five founding families and their descendants who capitalized on the unique local geology to create a thriving community and industrial center.
Project Description The primary artwork features a series of aluminum almond shaped panels that echo the shape of the platform canopy. The panels contain images from the past and present-day Boyle Heights community, and are cut out to depict images of historic transit tokens and landmarks in a style reminiscent of papel picado (cut paper) and Japanese wood block prints. Laminated glass canopy skylights also include artist selected images of local history and iconic travel imagery. On the west end of the station landscape area, large metal sculptures forming the words “TO…”, evokes the famed Hollywood sign and creates a new landmark. Artist Statement “I am striving to create an exciting day environment. I was inspired by images of transportation tokens from all transit periods in Los Angeles and how this element of our collective histories carries with it personal stories of travel. I intend to use local architectural landmarks which will also bring a familiar image of travel to the station experience.” About the Artist JOSE LOPEZ is nationally recognized for his innovative light-based designs, creating stage …
Located in the heart of Boyle Heights, the artist’s goal is to create a focal communal space for the multi-generational communities of the area. Images of birds, alluding to migration and travel is the theme throughout portions of the plaza, escalator walls and mezzanine.
Artist Ries Niemi has created 550 linear feet of hand-wrought fencing for this station, influenced by the historical Art Deco buildings of Pasadena, the Craftsman Style detail of architects Greene & Greene, and the beauty of machines and trains from the Industrial Revolution.
Throughout the 13.7 mile Metro L Line (Gold) route, artist Beth Thielen strategically embossed images she created onto the concrete retaining walls, overpasses, and sound walls along the journey from Union Station to the Sierra Madre Villa Station.
Artist Teddy Sandoval, a longtime resident of Highland Park, has created a gateway with a Victorian flair for the Highland Park area.
The shape, history and beauty of hands and the sacred objects they hold provides a glimpse into rich and unexpected personal stories from the neighborhood surrounding Mariachi Plaza Station.
Gold Line Bridge serves as a symbolic gateway into the San Gabriel Valley, as well as a tribute to the area landscape and its earliest settlers. Completed in 2012, the 584-foot dual-track bridge spans the eastbound I-210 Freeway in the city of Arcadia.
A 40-foot spire of telescoping steel and bronze ascends into the sky and announces the entry to this station. Prominently appearing on the tower collar is the number 42, which commuters and sports fans alike will recognize in conjunction with the gold baseball as references to Jackie Robinson, a long-time Pasadena resident and the first African American to break the “color line” in professional baseball.
Artist Pat Ward Williams used people in transit as the subject for her artwork “Everyday People” at the Lake Avenue Station.
Roberto Delgado considered the station’s surrounding communities of Cypress Park, Montecito Heights, Lincoln Heights, and Highland Park and was impressed by the vitality of the people’s Mexican culture.
Inspired by the famous Mexican song from yesteryear, El Niño Perdido Alejandro de la Loza sculpted a bronze statue of a mother and child which hangs over the entrance Mariachi Plaza Station.
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.
For Atlantic Station, Adobe LA created a series of benches with tile rugs at the platform and a large scale free standing sculpture inspired by the striking and colorful design culture of Eastside living rooms, shops, cars, and toys.
