New artwork by Christine Nguyen at Silver Line Manchester Station
In Metro’s ongoing effort to improve the transit environment and attract customers to our system, Metro completed installation of new artworks at Manchester Station as part of the Silver Line Revitalization Project. The artworks were carefully fitted and applied to the underside of the glass canopies above the seating areas.
Manchester Station before artwork was applied to the canopies
Created by artist Christine Nguyen, the colorful artworks present dreamlike imagery of the local flora and fauna. A mountainous urban environment is portrayed amid oceanic life forms inspired by aquatic life found at surrounding marine preserves and tide pools. In reference to the changing colors of the ocean when viewed at different times of the day, one canopy design incorporates mostly blue hues to represent daytime while the other is delineated in orange, yellow, red and purple for sunset.
Scroll down for more photos of the artworks…
Agreed art is a low priority at this stage when Metro has budget problems. Metro needs to invest wisely and prioritizing art project is not one of them. Art can always be installed later.
Metro has installed art for quite a while now, yet their ridership has actually declined so it’s pretty apparent that new art isn’t attracting riders. You can see that ridership has fallen on both bus and rail directly on Metro’s own ridership statistic page:
http://lastreetsblog.tumblr.com/post/113367752753/la-metro-ridership-dropped-28-from-2013-to
http://www.metro.net/news/ridership-statistics/
What this shows is that art isn’t going to magically improve ridership numbers. It’s somewhere else that Metro needs to be focusing their efforts on. Lack of restrooms? Adding station kiosks? Lack of retail stands? Better security? Lower fares for shorter trips?
Oy vey, the artsy hippies are in full force today.
Millennium Park has created jobs, huh?
Let’s look at some statistics:
Millennium Park (opened 2004) from Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Park
http://www.wbez.org/system/files/styles/original_image/llo/insert-images/POVERTY-2-percentage-of-low-income-students-in-Illinois-public-schools-over-time.png
http://www.chicagohomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Website-Chart3.png
If the Millennium Park in Chicago were to create jobs and help the local economy of Chicago, then why are there more homeless people in Chicago now since it opened?
Reason? Because there are no jobs!! The amount of money and landspace used for the Millennium Park would’ve been better spent in job creation instead. Create long term jobs first then art, not the other way around. It’s common sense, people! You don’t go buy a Mona Lisa painting before you make the money. It’s common sense, people!
Do you really think people who are living on the streets, struggling to survive is going to care about some artwork at this station? These people want jobs! If Metro had focused their attention in private-public partnership by bringing in like a mini kiosk here or perhaps a small Starbucks stand, then that would’ve created two or three long term jobs to help people out of homelessness. And a Starbucks would’ve created revenue, put in more sales taxes into LA County’s Treasury and helped created a better Manchester station. After that, then Metro can install art!
“See Millennium Park in Chicago for example.”
Art Works,
That’s not a really good example. You may see Millennium Park as this place of great art space that enriches lives, but the darker side is that Chicago, just like any other big city in the US, has problems with homeless. And such problems are exacerbated because of egoism of artsy liberals who prioritize art space over direct job creation. We’ve seen this all too often.
These are the two parts of Chicago:
http://happynaturally.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/thebean.jpg
http://www.assignmentchicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/HomelessWoman.jpg
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20131019/ISSUE01/310199984/loop-alliance-takes-on-homelessness
http://chicagoist.com/2006/10/20/to_panhandle_or_not_to_panhandle.php
The solution is often putting these people who are out of job into homeless shelters and “sanctuaries” and mistreating them like they don’t belong near Millennium Park because they “ruin the surroundings.” It really reminds me of the Star Trek DS9 episode Past Tense Part I and II
http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Past_Tense,_Part_I_(episode)
Art space is good. But there are far more serious issues here in LA than just creating art space. Unemployment is high in LA, there are a lot of homeless people, who deserve jobs, long term jobs, over art space. Art space isn’t a high priority issue, job creation is a bigger issue that is worth more in using our tax dollars to help these people find stable, long term jobs. Note the term stability and long term.
For every people living in the streets of LA in Skid Row, there’s a job waiting for them
http://www.trbimg.com/img-534365a9/turbine/la-174082-me-0905-homeless-1-lkh-jpg-20140407/2000/2000×1188
For every disabled vet living in the streets of LA, there’s a job waiting for them
http://lacatholicworker.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/5639490-disabled-homeless-veteran.jpg
Your ideas however, of prioritizing art does not do anything to help solve these issues. Art space isn’t going to magically create jobs. If that were the case, one can clearly see the example of that in places like MacArthur Park or Pershing Square
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4090/877/1600/pershing%20square%20homeless.jpg
The answer to that is not art projects. It’s wisely investing our tax dollars into direct job creation. Metro has over 80 stations and multiple properties all across LA County that are highly underutilized that can become direct job creators by adding in retail spaces, merchant kiosks, and other services.
It actually does provide long-term benefit. The art created at these stations is an investment in the overall transit-rider experience, and through the beautification of these stations, communities are also improved. A better transit-rider experience means more riders and more revenue, and beautiful communities are typically ones that thrive economically. There are numerous studies that draw the connection between public art, economic development and job creation. See Millennium Park in Chicago for example. We’re talking millions and millions of dollars in benefit, not cents from a newspaper stand. It’s not to say that art is more important than the other things mentioned. Trees, shade and sound mitigation are clearly important. But to say that art is a waste of money is absolutely, demonstrably untrue.
I agree
Several times I have noticed while waiting for the Silver Line Bay at the Harbor Gateway Station that it is very hot in that area and there are not enough trees or cool areas for passengers to wait.
The so called high-conscious people who love everything their government masters do without digging into the devils in the details strikes again. Making the station look good is like putting a lipstick on a pig. In the end, it’s still a pig.
Do you really think people are going to care about this? It’s going to look cool the first time they see it, but the next day, everyone is going to be back to staring at their smartphones and watching Youtube videos again. Face it, that’s the reality.
What Metro did is just blow our tax dollars on something new that’s only going to be be in awe for one day. The other 364 days a year and many years to come, it’s the exact same day as usual: people waiting under the hot summer sun or shivering in the rain, with freeway traffic screaming around them in surround sound, and trying to keep their stress levels down by listening to Youtube videos or music with their canal earbuds and Beats by Dr. Dre headphones.
They could’ve spent our money on far better things than this. Sound walls would be a higher priority that many Silver Line riders have been asking for. An enclosed canopy that covers the entire station on both sides, amenities like coffee or newstands, perhaps a coin operated restroom, an ATM machine, a soda vending machine, any of these would’ve been better use of our tax dollars that would’ve done something useful for transit riders and even created additional revenues for Metro.
Christine artwork is so beautiful. What a positive move for metro. The world becomes a more beautiful place to be when we take pride in our surroundings. We have had upgrades in north long beach and it the world a better place. Thanks Christine nguyen for bring apart of that.
Sorry for the typos
What does this do? It employs creative workers, designers, engineers, fabricators, skilled technicians and general contractors. It creates a moment for people to dream and be inspired during the course of everyday life. A commitment to employment and individual well being is the best use of my tax dollars that I can imagine. Well done!
For the short term while this art project is being done and it’s being done at taxpayer expense. It’s basically taking our money and redirecting them to short term jobs and throwing them away once the project is completed. That’s not really an answer.
What is needed are long term solutions. This doesn’t do anything to help create long term jobs, long term sales tax revenue, long term revenue for Metro or help our economy.
Adding a newspaper stand cited as an example above has longer term benefits. A newspaper stand will always be there so long as the Manchester station is in operation, will always have someone there with a job, and will always be there to sell something that will create revenue for Metro and continue to bring sales tax revenue to LA County.
Perfect example of wasteful spending. What does this do? Absolutely nothing. Agreed, a sound barrier to dampen the noise from the freeway would’ve been a better use of our tax dollars.
Couldn’t you guys just added a newspaper stand or something? A newspaper stand would’ve at least made some revenue for Metro and contributed more into sales taxes for every goods sold.
Love seeing new art around the city! Especially from a local artist.
I think this installation is beautiful and commend metro for trying to beautify an otherwise dull and boring looking station
The priorities of how Metro uses our tax dollars completely baffles me. Metro should’ve just installed this statue instead:
http://i.imgur.com/pwSCZnW.jpg
The noise is deafening from all the cars on the 110!
I know, let’s use our tax dollars to add in some artwork instead of putting in sound barriers! (shakes head)
here’s a thought, dont live next to the freeway
The person is referring to adding sound barriers to that Silver Line Station (as well as every other Silver Line station along the 110 median) than just having an open air fence which bring in deafening noise to the transit riders waiting at that station. That is definitely a more positive use of tax dollars as a much needed upgrade to that Metro Silver Line station instead of artwork. It’s a problem that is noted quite extensively for many Silver Line patrons who have to deal with the loud noises of cars whizzing by as they wait for their BRT.
http://transittalk.proboards.com/thread/721/silver-line-monte-harbor-transitways?page=3
http://www.latimes.com/local/countygovernment/la-me-harbor-busway-20141202-story.html