Check out the latest Metro Art time-lapse video to watch how the spirit of L.A.’s Pacific Electric streetcars — known as the Red Cars — reemerges in the careful assembly of a large-scale glass mosaic mural for the Regional Connector’s Historic Broadway Station. The mural was created by artist Mark Steven Greenfield. 

The 147-foot wide mural pays homage to the streetcars that once criss-crossed Southern California and connected our sprawling region — just as the Regional Connector is tying together the Metro A (Blue), E (Expo) and L (Gold) Lines to make it easier to travel to and through DTLA. Once installed, the mural will be the largest glass mosaic artwork in the Metro system, artistically connecting our current light rail system to L.A.’s past.  

Titled Red Car Requiem, the original artwork was rendered by Greenfield using ink and acrylic paint. Each element of the artwork was matched in dynamic colors and the placement of more than one million hand-cut glass pieces during the mosaic’s fabrication process. 

During an artist-led community conversation hosted by the artist online last June, people shared their Red Car memories. One participant, who grew up riding the Red Cars to DTLA, talked about the excitement he felt while passing through many communities to arrive downtown at the old Broadway department store. “The flashes of red in the mural capture the sense of movement and adventure…I love that about the mosaic,” he said.  

Red Car Requiem is one of seven new site-specific, integrated artworks for the three new underground stations that are part of the Regional Connector. 

Click here for more information about Red Car Requiem.
Click here for more information about the Regional Connector Art Program. 

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