Expo/Vermont Station - Slideshow

Neighborhood Portrait: Reconstructed by Jessica Polzin McCoy

Project Description

Displayed on the gateway arches, McCoy’s intricate watercolor collages of exteriors of homes in the West Adams area describe the window frames, doorways and garden gates that define the architecture of entryways in this historic neighborhood. When riders step through the gateways onto the station platform, they experience similarly assembled paintings of local residents seated in the interiors of their homes.

Located above seating modules, community members are surrounded by personal objects: books, a pet, framed photos of loved ones. The viewer has a sense of familiarity with both the public and the intimate spaces of the area surrounding the station. Passengers visiting the station vicariously become a visitor to a resident's garden, their front porch, their living room, college dorm.

Artist Statement

“My goal is to produce artwork that reveals something secret or previously unseen. The viewer should know the painting. It should be their private space.”

About the Artist

JESSICA POLZIN MCCOY is Assistant Professor of Art at Pitzer College, Claremont, CA. Her paintings have been exhibited at venues such as the Ontario Museum of Art, Columbus College of Art and Design, and the Porter Butts Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Grant and a University of Wisconsin-Madison Vilas Fellowship. McCoy is represented by the Fanny Garver Gallery in Madison, WI.

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