1. An Informal Assessment of the Los Angeles Metro Art Program
Kurt Kiefer and Jenny Heishman
May 14, 2013
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 1

2. OVERVIEW
Metro Lines Reviewed
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 2
Reviewed over the course of
two days in early May 2013:
• Red Line (Union Station to
Hollywood/Highland)
• Gold Line (Little Tokyo to
Allen)
• Silver Line (Union Station to
El Monte)
• Blue Line (7th Street/Metro
Center to Willowbrook)
• Green Line (Willowbrook to
Redondo Beach)

3. OVERVIEW
Observations
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 3
The Los Angeles Metro Art Department,
established in 1989 has developed over 300
different projects in conjunction with commuter
rail, light rail, bus rapid transit and local bus
service. Experimenting widely, the department
has tested many different strategies and
therefore offers excellent examples of both
successful and unsuccessful projects. As a
20+ year-old collection in a heavily-used
system, Metro’s program is also something of
a laboratory for reviewing the maintainability of
materials and techniques, as well as the
longevity of conceptual approaches.
The piece at left, Jonathan Borofsky’s I
Dreamed I Could Fly (1993) at the 7th
Street/Metro Center Station, is a collection of
humorous sculptures flying over the station
platform. Although very dirty, the piece remains
charming and is a good example of artwork
that creates an art experience unrelated to the
identity of the surrounding neighborhood.

4. STRONG APPROACHES
Artist-Driven Station Designs: El Segundo, Daniel Martinez
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 4
The earliest artworks created as part of the
program were elaborate collaborations with
station design teams. Artworks such as Daniel
Martinez’ hand and paper airplane sculpture,
part of his For Your Intellectual Entertainment
(1995) installation at the El Segundo/Nash
Station on the Green Line, define the station.
Most of the projects in this part of the system
are showing their age and are significantly
deteriorated. Martinez’ works, in contrast, have
maintained their presence, in our opinion
because of the heavy materials and dark
colors used to fabricate the artwork.

5. STRONG APPROACHES
Artist-Driven Station Designs: Aviation/LAX Station, Richard Turner
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 5
Like Martinez’ project, Richard Turner’s designs for the Aviation/LAX Station are immersive
and create the identity of the station. In this case, though the station is showing its age, the
work is focused on engagement with patrons, creating little domestic zones within a public
place. Inspired by the mid-Century modern design associated with Southern California, the
piece provides comfortable, single-person seating away facing inwards, forcing a small
amount of community interaction on the platform.
Also like Martinez’ project, Turner’s features well-crafted, substantial objects made from
durable materials. The ruggedness of the installation’s components allows them to
withstand heavy use and keep their conceptual integrity, even as their colors and surfaces
degrade.

6. STRONG APPROACHES
Immersive Designs: Hollywood/Highland Station, Sheila Klein
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 6
Sheila Klein’s masterful transformation
of common architectural materials,
Underground Girl (2000), creates an
engaging and welcoming environment
for passengers. Using sophisticated
color and indirect light, Klein fashioned
what may be the most comfortable
underground station in the system.
Although now 13 years old, the station
seems brand-new, a testament to the
strength of using the materials and
methods common throughout the
system, accepting the challenges of
maintenance and embracing those
challenges as critical design
constraints.

7. STRONG APPROACHES
Immersive Designs: Hollywood/Western Station, May Sun and Escudero-Fribourg
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 7
May Sun’s and Escudero-Fribourg Architects’ untitled
collaborative installation at the Hollywood/Western Station
(1999) is another fully-immersive experience. While less
cohesive as a design than Sheila Klein’s Hollywood/Highland
Station, two simple strategies here make the work successful: an
all-over exuberant field of color on the walls and floor, merged
into one continuous surface via a cove at the base of the walls.
While beginning to show its age, because the artwork is both
highly-textured visually and made of materials within the
vernacular of station design, it appears to be in good condition
and much cleaner than many other stations in the system.

8. STRONG APPROACHES
Strong and Discrete Interventions: Wilshire/Vermont Station, Bob Zoell
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 8
Bob Zoell’s installation, No
Title (2004), is a strong
example of how well-
designed interventions using
color, graphics and humor
can fully occupy a large
space. Surrounding four
columns in an immense
underground station, the
pieces’ presence far
surpasses their actual scale.

9. STRONG APPROACHES
Strong and Discrete Interventions: Little Tokyo/Arts District Station, Hirokaza Kosaka
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 9
Similarly, Hirokaza Kosaka’s
simple, elegant sculptural
seating (part of his Buffer
Zone, 2009) for the Little
Tokyo/Arts District Station,
proves that artwork does not
need to be large to have a
significant impact on the
design of a station.

10. STRONG APPROACHES
Simple Projects: Westlake/MacArthur Park, Sonia Romero
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 10
Sonia Romero’s MacArthur Park, Urban Oasis (2010)
is a project retrofitted into an existing station to add
color and vibrancy to an otherwise dark mezzanine.
Although somewhat awkwardly placed, the piece is
well-crafted and approachable, serving its purpose
well.

11. STRONG APPROACHES
Simple Projects: Vermont/Santa Monica Station, George LeGrady
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 11
George Legrady’s simple
porcelain enamel panel,
Kinetic Flow (2006), is a
elegant, low-tech object
evoking a high-tech
source. Sited on a
sloping surface above the
entrance to an
underground station, in a
very direct way, the piece
does what it was
intended to do:
“…engage the kinetic
experience of the
downward movement on
both escalator and
staircase and escalator,
one smooth, the other
sequential”.

12. STRONG APPROACHES
System-wide Temporary Projects: Wilshire/Normandy Station, Holly Andres
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 12
The LA Metro Art
Department has recently
developed a series of
long-term (3 year)
temporary photographic
lightbox installation. This
project by Holly Andres,
Sparrow Lane (2010), is
a narrative work telling
the story of a girl
approaching adulthood.
The Photographic
Lightbox Series allows
the Art Department to
engage a broad range of
artists who would not
normally make art for
public places, and
provides them with a
strategy to retrofit
existing stations without
the costs and
complexities of
infrastructural artwork
(though there are
ongoing programmatic
costs).

13. LESS-SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES
Architectural Interventions: Westlake/MacArthur Park, Thurmen Statom
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 13
Thurmen Statom’s
skylight installation, Into
the Light (1993), is a
strong attempt at
creating a magical
moment for patrons, but
suffers from inelegant
structural connections,
forced poeticism and
challenging
maintenance.

14. LESS-SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES
Architectural Interventions: Vermont/Santa Monica Station, Robert Millar
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 14
Robert Millar’s untitled
project for the
Vermont/Santa Monica
Station entry, although
beautiful, creates a
mausoleum-like space,
largely because of the
chosen colors, raw
materials and mysterious
text.

15. LESS-SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES
Architectural Interventions: Vermont/Santa Monica Station, Robert Millar
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 15
Additionally, the lighting
component of Millar’s,
while made of simple
components (flourescent
lighting tubes with gels)
has proven very difficult
to maintain because of
its location over stairs
and escalators.

16. LESS-SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES
Architectural Interventions: Lake Station, Pat Ward Williams
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 16
Backlit photographic images on glass, replacing a facility’s glazing, is
a strong approach to incorporating artwork into a station’s design. Pat
Ward William’s Everyday People (2003) could have been successful
with better craftsmanship and a more nuanced sense of color and
design.

17. LESS-SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES
Architectural Interventions: LA County and USC Medical Center, Merge Conceptual Design
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 17
The BRT station at LA County and USC Medical Center, though only
a few years old, is an example of an artist-led project that has not
aged well, in part because of small, delicate design gestures in a very
harsh environment.

18. LESS-SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES
Artist-Driven Station Designs: Redondo Beach Station, Carl Cheng
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 18
While trying to reflect both the
nearby beach environment and the
local aerospace industry, Carl
Cheng’s The Museum of Space
Information is overly aggressive as
an immersive experience, placing
value on the art experience over
the other needs of passengers.

19. REMAINS TO BE SEEN
Strong and Discrete Interventions: Southwest Museum Station, Teddy Sandoval
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 19
Teddy Sandoval’s unusual
sculptures, part of his Highland
Park Gateway project (2003),
are an interesting example of
extreme localization – artwork
by an artist living close to the
station and based on the
neighborhood’s historic cultural
identity.

20. REMAINS TO BE SEEN
Strong and Discrete Interventions: Chinatown Station, Chusien Chang
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 20
Chusien Chang’s The Wheels
of Change (2003) is a
compelling addition to the
station’s intermediate platform.
Although each component
piece of the work is well-made,
the piece’s grout lines and
center glass are failing fast,
probably the victims of
aggressive pressure-washing.

21. REMAINS TO BE SEEN
Strong and Discrete Interventions: Memorial Park Station, John Valadez
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 21
John Valadez’s The First Artists in Southern California: A Short Story (2003) is a bold
addition to the Memorial Park Station, but seems like a last-minute and somewhat
temporary gesture that could be easily removed.

22. TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS TO KEEP IN MIND
Traditional building materials make for long-lasting works of art
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 22
Samm Kunce’s In the Living Rock (2004) is an elegant tile and stone mosaic along
the back of a bench in a public plaza attached to a station entrance.

23. TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS TO KEEP IN MIND
Well-designed robustness is an appropriate maintenance strategy
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 23
Daniel Martinez’ stair risers at the El Segundo
Station have endured heavy use and pressure
washing by being cast quite deep.

24. TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS TO KEEP IN MIND
Well-designed robustness is an appropriate maintenance strategy
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 24
Richard Turner’s rustic terrazzo “welcome mat”
at the Aviation/LAX Station has survived
reasonably intact (as has the surrounding
flagstone) for over 20 years.

25. TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS TO KEEP IN MIND
A little escape is appreciated
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 25
Passengers seem to value
opportunities to sit by
themselves.

26. TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS TO KEEP IN MIND
Ornament and craftsmanship can add quality to facilities
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 26
Real ironwork adds richness to
a facility more than cut-out
metal panels.

27. LESSONS LEARNED
From a limited review of art in the LA Metro system
6/4/2013Sound Transit ELE Lead Artist Team (Schugurensky, Kiefer and Heishman) 27
The LA Metro Art Program offers encyclopedic breadth for studying the successes and weaknesses of various
transit-oriented art commissioning strategies. Over the past 20+ years, the program has experimented with artist-
driven development, integrated design, blue-chip artist projects, limited-scope permanent projects and curated
temporary projects.
Based on our observations, it appears that the program, facing the complexities and cost of maintaining a very
large collection, has retreated to a much more conservative practice. This practice seems to be designing in distinct
“frames” in which artists can work: overhead mural panels; lozenge-shaped paving areas; tile mosaic installations;
and temporary curated projects. These seem to be reasonable changes in their program given the budget
constraints of the last 5 years.
Applying these observations to the current Sound Transit program, we believe the following are the most important
lessons learned:
• Maintenance (and the ability to maintain) is critical to the success of an artwork in the harsh environment of a
transit system and is, in fact, an important facet of sustainable development;
• Craftsmanship is also critical to the long-term success of an artwork, can help ensure its success even if an
artwork isn’t maintained brings the hand of the artist to public facilities, adding richness and depth to the
experience;
• Developing the identity of a station as a rich place is a more successful strategy than trying to encapsulate and
describe neighborhood identity;
• Consistency does not necessarily add to the strength of station design if the artwork is confined to distinct,
repeated framing devices unless an artist is skilled in the particular methods and materials required of those
opportunities;
• Strong artist voices and robust interventions maintain their conceptual strength over time, as do the strong and
robust manifestations of those voices and interventions.