Gifts of Freedom and Knowledge,2019

Project Description

Artist George Evans continues to refine the photo-based concept for the interior of the station’s new Customer Service Center. The artwork design has been informed by  pop-up events with riders and community members. The artwork is part of a range of improvements currently underway at the station. Evans has developed layered compositions that celebrate South Los Angeles’ distinct neighborhoods, personalities, landscapes, and cultural traditions. In keeping with his commitment to cultivating the next generation of young artists, Evans has planned arts and community programming that will engage youth from the surrounding schools and organizations.

Artist Statement

Through combining photography, technology and various drawing techniques, Evans states, “his role is that of a Shaman who reflects and expresses the life of the village.”

About the Artist

George Evans was born in Watts and grew up on 89th Street in an artistic family that nurtured a love of art, books, music and nature. His brother is a jazz musician and one of his sisters, Wanda Coleman, was a renowned LA poet. George’s mother wanted him to be a musician, but his heart was always set on visual art. Evans developed his craft from drawing, painting, printmaking and photography. Evans trained early in his father sign shop, Carter’s Printing, and Valentine Photography Studio and completed his Bachelor of Fine Art at the California Institute of the Arts at Chouinard.  According to Evans, there were two important opportunities that informed his career: art classes in Watts after the rebellion in 1965 and a gift of LACMA membership from his mother. Evans has served nearly 2 decades as a professor of Graphic Design at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.