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Art's a Trip. Free Metro Rail Tour

Avalon Station

Three artists jointly contributed to the Avalon/I-105 Station. Each sought to represent the historic vitality, strength and cultural importance of both musical and visual arts in the surrounding community. All three artists received engineering and architectural support from Caltrans.

Portrait Of My People #619, 1995
Willie Middlebrook, artist

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In a Portrait Of My People #619, artist Willie Middlebrook has translated images of past and present artists from the surrounding community into a computer generated porcelain enamel photo-mural.

"This work honors the unsung heroes in our community. Not the basketball players, the rappers or those who get the so-called commercial glory, but the artists, actors, sculptors, writers, poets, performance artists, painters, filmmakers and musicians who contribute to our world in so many meaningful ways and who form the structure that upholds the community around the station."

WILLIE MIDDLEBROOK was raised in Compton, CA and received his Associate of Arts degree from Compton Community College. He has received numerous awards including two Visual Artist Fellowships in photography from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as a Getty Trust Visual artist Fellowship and a Brody Individual Artist Fellowship from the California Community Foundation. His work has been exhibited throughout the country including the Studio Museum of Harlem, Art Institute of Chicago, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Cleveland Museum of Art and the California African-American Museum. Middlebrook is well known for his uniquely improvisational "photo-painting" portraits which he considers a collaboration between those he photographs and himself. He seeks to speak to and about his community, "not necessarily in a positive light but always in a true light." Willie Middlebrook teaches photography at the El Camino College Compton Community Educational Center.

Pyramid, 1996
John Outterbridge, artist

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Artist John Outterbridge has created Pyramid, a bilateral, reinforced-concrete pyramidal form, located at the northwest end of the station entrance. The forms incorporate tile mosaics—an homage to the nearby Watts Towers.

"I chose the pyramid for its universal appeal, its antiquity and its architectural integrity. The form is both physically and visually (with high contrast in light and shadow) separated in two, implying the need to construct new social and cultural connections. This work is part of my ongoing investigation and response to the aesthetics of cultural and social complexities: common grounds and celebrated differences."

JOHN OUTTERBRIDGE was born and raised in North Carolina and studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. Best known for his assemblage works, Outterbridge lives and works in South Central Los Angeles, and served as the director of Watts Towers Arts Center for 17 years before devoting himself full time to his own artwork. His work was featured in a one-person retrospective at the African-American Museum in Los Angeles. Outterbridge has represented the U.S. in major international exhibitions in Brazil, Cuba, and South Africa. His work explores issues pertaining to personal identity based on family, community, the environment, and aesthetics. He is well-recognized for his skill in creating art from found objects and discarded materials.

Bridge of Culture, 1997
Stanley C. Wilson, artist

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Artist Stanley Wilson's work Bridge of Culture focuses on the similarities within the beliefs shared by African and Native American cultures (especially those of Mexico). Various icons of these cultures, which reveal similar understandings of the relationship between nature and human existence, are incorporated into Wilson's ceramic-tile pavement medallions as well as in his windscreen and bench designs.

"I was interested in creating a cultural bridge between individuals in this neighborhood that may (or may not) be aware of their interconnectedness."

STANLEY C. WILSON was born, raised, and still lives in the Los Angeles area. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts from Otis Art Institute, and teaches art at Cal State Polytechnic, Pomona. Wilson has researched and created altars for the last fifteen years; his research in this area has been influenced by extensive travel throughout South America and Africa. He was awarded a residency at the Studio Museum of Harlem in New York in 1987.