Lead Artist
Cliff Garten, artist
Weaving a Transit Parkway: An Urban Allegory
Cliff Garten worked directly with the Preliminary Engineering Design Team to research, analyze and creatively interpret environmental, historical resources in order to identify relevant, prototypical artwork opportunities. His contributions included a conceptual approach to the overall design continuity of the alignment, opportunities for individual station artists, and a design project that references the historic physical context of the Expo Line Right of Way. Garten envisioned a transit parkway that weaves functional and aesthetic aspects of the project into a distinct visual vocabulary as it travels through the diverse neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
“The art program is essential because it provides for unique moments through artworks by individual artists, but more importantly, it seeks to transform aspects of the integral, system wide elements into engaging and beautiful forms which effectively perform their intended functions. The idea of weaving, binding or interlacing is meant as a positive urban metaphor for joining communities and disparate parts of Los Angeles.”