Norwalk Station
Suka: Place of the Bees, 1995
Meg Cranston, artist
Caltrans, architects
When the Sejat Indian tribe inhabited what is now the City of Norwalk, they called it Suka, which meant "Place of the Bees." Artist Meg Cranston uses this historical reference with a contemporary twist. A large bee sculpture greets passengers at the entry to the park-and-ride lot while smaller bee sculptures are located beneath the station canopies in hexagonal frames. The bee motif is silkscreened onto the elevator glass and appears as well on wall tiles and in paving patterns. Bronze tiles at the platform level reference ancient Greek coins which featured the industrious honeybee.
"For this project I wanted to convey a sense of history but also to reflect modern times. I chose bees as an emblem for Norwalk because they are linked with the area's earliest population. Like many of the commuters who use the station on their way to work, worker bees are industrious, peaceful, productive, and contribute to our survival (through cross-pollination). Bees also have exemplary social instincts—bee colonies are much like families.
As an artist I am interested in craftsmanship and I wanted to maintain the sense of a homemade object. I tried to give the bees a joyful attitude—to make them bright and fun. Something that would provide a smile to people both going to work and coming home.”