A new exhibition, We Are. . . Portraits of Metro Riders by Local Artists, is now on view in Union Station’s Passageway Art Gallery. Each rider portrait has a story that is personal and universal, intimate and immediate — and each is told by an artist with ties to neighborhoods served by Metro.
Over the course of 2022 the exhibition will be presented in multiple formats and sites throughout the Metro system, including limited edition TAP cards, digital displays in Metro stations and a special Metro Art Bus. It will be accompanied by various all-ages community engagement programs, including tours, talks, online activities and more. Stay tuned for more details as they are announced.
To extend the reach of the exhibition, Metro riders are invited to contribute selfies and their personal stories of transit using the hashtag #SomosWeAreLA.
“As we draw closer to the end of 2021, there is much to celebrate and reflect on and we are deeply thankful to our riders. We hope everyone will see aspects of themselves and their lives reflected in the portraits,” said Maya Emsden, Deputy Executive Officer, Metro Art Program.
Responses received to the portraits so far have been enthusiastic:
“I just walked through the Union Station tunnel as they are installing the new art pieces along the wall and wow so powerful and touching.”
“From the beginning of the tunnel to the end, they all have their own story. Beautiful, beautiful!”
The exhibition at Union Station introduces mixed media artworks by 35 artists and expresses the diversity of Metro’s ridership, featuring transit riders of various ages, ethnicities and backgrounds.
Artists in the Union Station exhibition, and in an expanded gallery online, include: Aiseborn, Eric Almanza, Kristina Ambriz, Kiley Ames, Jazmine Atienza, Susu Attar, Christen Austin, Moses X. Ball, Daniel Barajas, Chelle Barbour, April Bey, Javier Carrillo, Carolyn Castaño, Gregg Chadwick, Sean Cheetham, Cat Ferraz, Yolanda González, Carla Jay Harris, Alepsis Hernández, Bodeck Luna, Lanise Howard, Bryan Ida, Simonette David Jackson, Sheila Karbassian, Kaylynn Kim, Miles Lewis, José M. Loza, Cody Lusby, Omar Martinez, Rosalind McGary, Samuel Pace, Maria Piñeres, Adele Renault, LP Ǽkili Ross, Eliseo Art Silva, Carlos Spivey, Hedy Torres, Edwin Ushiro, Dave Van Patten, J Michael Walker, Angela Willcocks.
See the full array of portraits on the Metro Art website.
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Categories: Metro Art