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Content6 ARTISTS INTEGRATING ART INTO LYNX BLUE LINE EXTENSION
Three hundred and eighty-three artists from the Carolinas and beyond competed for the opportunity to integrate art into the LYNX Blue Line Extension stations and alignment. In 2009 the artists were placed under proposal development contracts, oriented to the project and introduced to the community prior to starting work. The artists work with the project team to develop their ideas for walls, bridges, park and ride lots, and the stations starting at 9th Street in uptown and extending to the campus of the University of North Carolina Charlotte. A brief description of each artist and their site follows:
Maria Artemis, Atlanta, GA - Parkwood Station
An award winning artist since 1976, Artemis has been commissioned to create six public artworks in Georgia including a General Services Administration Art-in-Architecture project. She was also recently awarded the Working Artist Award by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia and was featured in the Twenty Georgia Masters Exhibition.
June Bisantz, Willimantic, CT - Park and Ride Lots and Alignment Opportunities
June Bisantz has created 8 public art projects since 2000 in the Northeast. Her work has also been exhibited at the Benton Museum of Art in Storrs, CT, The Flower Foundation in Los Angeles, CA, A.I.R. Gallery in New York City, NY, and Gallery Alexi in Budapest, Hungary.
Carolyn Braaksma, Denver, CO - Walls and Bridges
Carolyn Braaksma has extensive experience designing and fabricating site specific public artwork nationwide in cities such as Denver, CO, San Diego, CA, and Scottsdale, AZ. She also served as a member of the T-REX Light Rail Expansion Art Committee in Denver, CO.
Susan Brenner, Charlotte, NC - Elevators
A 2006 recipient of the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Grant and professor of painting at UNC Charlotte, Susan Brenner is a nationally and internationally exhibited artist. Her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at the Hanes Gallery at Wake Forest University and the Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC.
Jackie Chang, Brooklyn, NY - JW Clay Boulevard Station & University City Boulevard Station
Jackie Chang has been commissioned to design public art projects in New York, Charlotte, Minneapolis, and Miami. Her past public works have been primarily mosaic and glass and incorporate both text and images to challenge the viewer to find new meaning in words.
Chandra Cox, Raleigh, NC - Sugar Creek Station & Old Concord Road Station
Head of the department of Art and Design at NC State University, Chandra Cox has most recently designed the art integrated into the entrance of the Beatties Ford Road Metro Police Facility in Charlotte. She has also been commissioned for public art projects by the Raleigh Arts Commission, the Winston Salem Arts Council, and CATS Rosa Parks Transit Center.
Sharon Dowell, Charlotte, NC -25th Street Station, TPSS, Signal Houses, and Communication Cabinets
Creative Loafing's Best Local Artist Award Winner, Sharon Dowell was commissioned by the Arts and Science Council to create a public mural in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood of Charlotte. Her work is featured in several corporate collections including Duke Energy Corporation, Fidelity Investments, and The Federal Reserve Bank.
Darren Goins, Charlotte, NC - Bike Lockers & Bike Racks
A recent graduate of UNC Charlotte, Darren Goins is currently an 11- month artist-in-residence at McColl Center for Visual Art. His work has been awarded Best in Show at the 4th Annual National Printmaking and Drawing Exhibition, Lake Worth, FL and the 31st Bradley International Printmaking and Drawing Exhibition at The Heuser Art Center of Bradley University in Peoria, Il.
Anna Valentina Murch and Doug Hollis, San Fransisco, CA - 9th Street Station
Anna Murch has worked on more than 15 public art commissions nationwide including projects in Seattle, Miami, Los Angeles, and New York City. Her work has been awarded the Public Art Network Year in Review three times and she was awarded the Design for Transportation National Award by the National Endowment for the Arts for her collaboration on The Metrolink Design in St Louis, MO. Since the early 1970s, Douglas Hollis has explored natural phenomena in his public art works creating over 30 permanent installations throughout the United States including Los Angeles, Seattle, Raleigh, Denver, and New York City. His work is featured in the collections of the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art, the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and he has taught studios and lectures at renowned Universities such as Harvard University and the University of Virginia.
Patricia Leighton & Del Geist, New York, NY - UNC Charlotte Station
Patricia Leighton has been creating site specific public sculpture in Bulgaria, Scotland, England, South Korea and the United States since 1984 including a General Services Administration Art in Architecture Commission. She is also a two time Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant recipient. Del Geist received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Arizona State University in Environmental Art. He has received awards, grants and fellowships from organiztions inlcluding the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Together as an artist team they have developed artworks associated with transportation and movement since 1993.
Paul Sires & Ruth Ava Lyons, Charlotte, NC - 36th Street Station
Paul Sires and Ruth Ava Lyons have created art throughout the southeast both together and independently. Ruth Ava Lyons' paintings have been collected by numerous corporate and museum collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bank of America, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Paul Sires has designed and fabricated public art for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, VA, the Morgan Square Revitalization in Spartanburg, SC and the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte among others.
Tom Stanley & Shaun Cassidy, Rock Hill, SC - Tom Hunter and McCullough Stations
Tom Stanley is Chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Winthrop University and was awarded a Regional Artist Grant by the Arts and Science Council in 2005. Shaun Cassidy is Professor of Sculpture at Winthrop University. Together they have been commissioned to create four different public artworks in North and South Carolina since 2006.
The artists were selected by a five member panel of art professionals from the Carolinas appointed by the Art-in-Transit Advisory Committee:
Nancy Doll – Director, Weatherspoon Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Harriett Green - Visual Art Director, South Carolina Arts Commission
Jean Greer - Vice President of Public Art & Creative Individuals, Arts and Science Council of Charlotte
Lia Newman - Director of Programs and Exhibitions, Artspace in Raleigh, NC
A.T. Stephens – Professor of Design Studies, NC State University, College of Design
To see examples of the artists' past work, please click here and view the BLE Artist presentations from the Public Meetings on January 14th, 19th, and 26th, 2010.
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