Monterey Park through the eyes of artist Emi Motokawa

Go Metro to see our latest “Through the Eyes of Artists” poster, featuring Monterey Park, as envisioned by Emi Motokawa.

The poster is the first of five in this series to be displayed on board Metro trains and buses in 2016.

The public is invited to meet the artist and receive free, signed copies of her poster on Saturday May 14 from 2:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. at Barnes Park in Monterey Park as part of the City’s Centennial and Play Days Carnival.

The Neighborhood

Using an animation style, the artist depicts a multi-ethnic community that is colorful, active and vibrant while also acknowledging its geography of hilly terrain and historical landmarks.

The Artist

“Each morning, it is a common sight to see people gathering at the city’s parks to practice Tai-chi, so I used the central figure and a red and gold Chinese motif to symbolize the cultural image of the first city in the continental U.S. to have an Asian descent majority population. The historic landmarks of Heritage Park, Garvey Ranch Observatory and East L.A. College surround this portrait.”– Emi Motokawa

Emi Motokawa was born in Tokyo Japan and raised in Los Angeles where she began to fuse her Buddhist practice with visual art. Motokawa has exhibited at the Japanese American National Museum, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, and William Grant Still Community Center.

About “Through the Eyes of Artists”

In the tradition of celebrating transportation through colorful travel destination posters, Metro commissions a diverse range of Los Angeles artists to create original artworks for the “Through the Eyes of Artists” poster series. The purpose of the award-winning series is to increase ridership by encouraging the public to access the Metro system and enjoy traveling to the many neighborhoods within Los Angeles County. Established in 2003, the posters are displayed on board Metro trains and buses and Monterey Park is 34^th in the series.  Other posters to be released this year include West Hollywood, La Canada Flintridge, San Pedro and Eagle Rock.

View the whole Through the Eyes of Artists series by clicking here.