The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) celebrated the grand opening of “Here: Arts & Culture Along the K,” a multimedia exhibit showcasing the many great artists, culture and artworks connected by the K Line.
The opening reception took place at the 47-year-old Museum of African American Art in Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. MAAA officialy opened in 1976. Metro opened the K Line on October 7, 2022.
“I’m really excited to be here!” rejoiced Brooklyn-based muralist Shinique Smith, whose mosaic piece, “Only Light, Only Love,” was inspired by a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and adorns MLK Jr. Station.
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“I’m grateful to have my work in public and I hope the work that I’ve created can inspire and invigorate. I hope the community feels the same way about it when they see it,” she said.
Rebeca Méndez is from Mexico City and is a professor of Design Media Arts at UCLA. Her work, “At the Same Time,” is installed at Expo/Crenshaw Station.
“It’s as an emotional timepiece inspiring us to bring our mind and body as we experience, if just for a moment, the fullness of time expressed in the sky above us. We can get out of this mess we’re in if we rage with love,” said Mendez.
Ingrid Calame was inspired by the streetscape surrounding Leimert Park Station. Her “Talking Drums” is a rubbing of the West African djembe, a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands.
“My mother was from Jamaica, West Indies, and my father from Nebraska. Migration occupies the center of my work. I haven’t been to all the [K line] stops, but it’s exciting to see all the artists in one place,” she mused.
Other artists with works on view include Kenturah Davis, Moses X. Ball, Mobolaji Olambiwonnu, and more. Visitors were treated to photo opportunities with the artists, a light buffet, and musical stylings by DJ BAE BAE.
Geoff McFetridge designed “Us as a Measure of Openness” for the Westchester/Veterans Station. The visual artist from Calgary, Alberta, came to L.A. to attend California Institute for the Arts (CalArts).
“It feels very natural to be here. My art helps bring clarity to the blocks and burdens of life in the city. In L.A. things are always changing. Burdens are steppingstones to things that can help,” Geoff said.
Explaining her motivation in creating the frieze-like collage, “Layered Histories,” Jaime Scholnick said, “Speaking to the people of the community, getting a sense of what was important to them, was the crux of my idea and my inspiration.” Scholnick artwork adorns the Expo/Crenshaw Station.
The Museum of African American Art, located on the second level of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, serves as an exhibit venue for emerging artists, a community event space, and a field trip destination for students from local schools.
BHCP is adjacent to the MLK Station on the K Line and provides an essential transit link for commuters heading to key destinations in downtown Los Angeles, Inglewood, Westchester and Santa Monica.
Metro Art’s Art Guides offer overviews into the public art, temporary projects, ongoing series and cultural programming created for the transit environment, with a focus on commissioned artworks integrated into stations and facilities.
The exhibit is free and on view through Dec. 30. The viewing hours are Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To learn more about artworks on the K Line, visit https://art.metro.net/.
