Gateway Transit Center
Union Station East Portal
City of Dreams/River of History, 1996
May Sun, Richard Wyatt, Paul Diez, artist team
Today, the Los Angeles River is encased in concrete and artificially diverted from its natural path; but it originally flowed near the Gateway site. On its banks grew willow trees, cattails, curtains of grapevines, sycamore and cottonwood trees. In the river there lived minnows, trout and lampreys. The first settlers of Los Angeles, the pobladores, occupied a site on the west bank of the river, chosen because of the fertility of the soil and the abundance of water for irrigation. Acutely aware of the overlays of natural and cultural histories on the Union Station site (which was once the crossing of several Shoshonean trails), this artist team's multifaceted work seeks to create a sense of place resonant of the history and pre-history of the site.
An eighty-foot long mural, executed by artist Richard Wyatt, contains images of Native Americans and settlers of the LA basin as well as contemporary Los Angelenos. A "river" of over two hundred floor paving elements references native plants (including turtles, trout, sycamore and cattail leaves) and transportation (wagon wheel); these symbols also frame Wyatt's mural.
An impressive undulating aquarium holds 7,500 gallons of water and is populated with indigenous coastal fish including the smooth hound shark, sheep's head, garibaldi (California's state fish), wrasse, swellfish, horn shark, hawk fish, and black smith. Line drawings of historical figures are etched onto the aquarium glass, reinforcing the melding of past and present as well as the interrelationship between man and nature. A nearby "river bench" is clad in rocks from the LA River and Tujunga Creek; water soothingly trickles onto artifacts embedded into the bench. These artifacts were excavated from the original Chinatown (in the vicinity of Gateway and Union Station) and were donated by the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.
"In the wake of a series of natural and human disasters in the City of Los Angeles, here at the site of our City's historic core, City of Dreams/River of History hopefully will contribute to a sense of reaffirmation in a City that becomes aware of its past, of the accomplishments of its present, and of the possibilities of its future— its dreams."