Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Art Program

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Art Program
Name	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Art Program
Caption	Artwork at Metro (Los Angeles County) stations
Formation	1980s
Type	Public art program
Headquarters	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority headquarters, Los Angeles County, California
Location	Los Angeles County, California
Leader title	Director
Parent organization	Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Contents

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Art Program is the public art initiative of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority that integrates commissioned works into transit infrastructure across Los Angeles County, California. The program collaborates with artists, architects, planners, and community groups to install permanent and temporary artworks in Metro Rail (Los Angeles County) stations, Metro Bus facilities, and transit plazas, seeking to reflect the cultural diversity of regions such as Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Baldwin Hills, and San Gabriel Valley. Projects often occur alongside major capital undertakings such as the Purple Line (Los Angeles Metro), Expo Line, Crenshaw/LAX Line, and extensions to the Gold Line (Los Angeles Metro) and Blue Line (Los Angeles Metro).

Overview and Mission

The program traces roots to percent-for-art approaches used in projects like Los Angeles Mall redevelopment and early transit projects tied to the development of Red Line (Los Angeles Metro). Influenced by national precedents such as Arts in Transit (Minneapolis), Arts on the Line (MBTA), and municipal programs in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco, Metro’s initiative expanded during construction of rail projects through the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Key milestones include art commissions for Union Station (Los Angeles), collaborations during the Silver Line (Los Angeles Metro) implementation, public competitions associated with Gold Line Eastside Extension and the Wilshire/Western station, and integration into community planning processes in neighborhoods like South Los Angeles, Echo Park, Pasadena, California, Long Beach, California, Santa Monica, California, and Inglewood, California.

Commissioning follows established policies modeled on percent-for-art allocations, jury selection, and competitive calls coordinated with offices such as Metro Art (Los Angeles County) and consultants including Public Art Fund advisors. Selection panels include representatives from National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, local arts commissioners from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, transit planners from Southern California Association of Governments, and technical review by engineering firms and contractors like Skanska, Fluor Corporation, and Kiewit Corporation. Policies address intellectual property, maintenance, durability standards under American Public Works Association guidelines, and community benefit agreements occasionally negotiated with labor groups like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and United Brotherhood of Carpenters.

Notable commissions include installations by artists such as Judith Baca for murals reflecting Chicano history, Michael Heizer-influenced site works, collaborative pieces by Betye Saar, stained glass by Tanja Softić-style artisans, mosaics by Emilio Sanchez-inspired studios, and public sculpture from Tony Rosenthal-like modernists. Other contributors include Ruben Ochoa, Mark Bradford, Shepard Fairey, Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Nari Ward, Teresa Margolles, Maya Lin, Richard Serra, Chris Burden, Alexandre Arrechea, Olafur Eliasson, Jenny Holzer, Antony Gormley, Kara Walker, Do Ho Suh, Anish Kapoor, Ken Lum, Leonardo Drew, John Outterbridge, Lita Albuquerque, Ed Moses, Barbara Kruger, James Turrell, Robert Irwin, Jaume Plensa, Tim Hawkinson, Erwin Redl, Elias Sime, Sofia Leiby, Michael C. McMillen, Teresita Fernández, Carmen Lomas Garza, Luis Tapia, Judith Leyster, Mickalene Thomas, Catherine Opie, John Baldessari, Mel Chin, Vik Muniz, and Allora & Calzadilla. Works vary from integrated station art, tile mosaics, sculptural benches, and wayfinding elements to temporary exhibitions and performance programs featuring collaborations with Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, CalArts School of Theater, and UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

The program runs outreach initiatives with partners including Los Angeles Unified School District, LA County Library, Skirball Cultural Center, Japanese American National Museum, Studio Museum in Harlem-style exchanges, and community organizations in neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, Watts, San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Florence-Graham. Educational components include docent tours, school curricula aligned with California Visual and Performing Arts Standards, artist talks hosted at venues like Grand Park (Los Angeles), workshops with California State University, Northridge art departments, and public art festivals inspired by events such as LA Art Show, Pacific Standard Time, and Noche de Altares.

Funding derives from capital project budgets, local measures like Measure M (Los Angeles County), federal grants from Federal Transit Administration, and philanthropic support from foundations such as the Annenberg Foundation, W. M. Keck Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Getty Foundation, and corporate sponsorships from firms like Sony Pictures Entertainment, Walt Disney Company, Kaiser Permanente, and Bank of America. Administrative oversight is provided by Metro’s internal departments coordinating with legal counsel, procurement offices, and maintenance divisions, and governed by board actions from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors.