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Public art in transit
Monday, June 09, 2003
By TOM HESTER JR., The Trenton (NJ) Times

In Trenton, a lunging baseball player reaches for a soaring ball.

In Bordentown City, a John Bull steam engine chugs past wild tiger lilies.

In Roebling, the old steel mill is back, and in Burlington City, John Fitch's steamboat churns.

All along the way, egrets keep a watchful eye.

The past hasn't returned, nor have Delaware River birds accepted security jobs.

Rather, it's all part of the flavor being melded into the stops along the upcoming Southern New Jersey Light Rail Transit system.

"We wanted to embrace the community," said Sheila McKoy, project manager for NJ Transit's art program.

The light-rail system will be a sleek, modern addition to the riverside landscape from Trenton to Camden, but it also will be bringing pieces of the past to its 20 stops.

Each station will feature unique, colorful artwork built into railings and columns, with each column designed especially for the locale.

"The tile columns reflect each township's past and present," McKoy said.

The agency is spending $525,000 on the artwork at the stops in Mercer, Burlington and Camden counties, she said.

A plaque reading "River Rail Revival" adorns columns at each stop.

Former Trenton State College art professor Hiroshi Murata of Frenchtown, Katherine Hackl of Lambertville and Marilyn Keating of Gloucester City were chosen with help from the New Jersey Council on the Arts to create the rail-line artwork, McKoy said.

The artists worked as a team, using river and rail designs as their theme, McKoy said. They researched history and attended town meetings to hear public opinion as they devised the art, she said.

According to NJ Transit's Transit Arts Program, "Their concept was to create a visually interactive environment that provokes thought and a sense of delight. They wanted to give riders a sense of familiarity and connection to the environment. The goal was that the art would complement the stations' function."-- -- -- Heckl said the artists have been pleased with the results. "One of the most satisfying things is actually seeing it happen because we designed it so long ago," she said.

Meeting with the communities, Heckl said, was a big part of the process.

"We wanted to incorporate some local history, local fauna, local character," Heckl said. "Each one has its own identity."

While each station will be unique, NJ Transit spokesman Ken Miller said consistent designs, such as the color and the tiles, will be incorporated into every stop to give a uniform identity.

"Each station's tile work is pretty much the same," Miller said.

He said two egret sculptures will be placed atop each station.

Egrets, wading birds known for their long, drooping plumage, were chosen because they're native to the Delaware River and may even be seen by riders as they travel the line, Miller said.

NJ Transit started its transit art program in 1994, and the South Jersey light-rail artwork is in the same vein as that used on the Hudson-Bergen light-rail system.

"That project was very successful," McKoy said.

Transit art has been around for years but has received more attention in recent years as transit agencies try to attract new riders. According to the Federal Transit Administration, in a 1995 publication "Art in Transit . . . Making it Happen," passengers "must feel comfortable and secure in our facilities - and they will if the design is attractive."

"While transit plays a critical role in making communities more livable, it has not always been welcomed by those it seeks to serve," wrote then-FTA Administrator Gordon J. Linton.

"Transit services must be a positive force in neighborhoods if they are to be accepted. It is no surprise, then, that transit operators are increasingly concerned about the quality of the stations, bus stops, trains and buses where people spend their time either waiting or riding.

"Artists can play a unique role in this search for quality. . . . Artists can add value to mass transit's primary goal of building ridership."

Jaddette Sadik-Khan, associate FTA administrator, when the publication was released, wrote: "Art projects do much more than add an essential human dimension to transit - they assuage community concerns about the disruptions of transit construction, improve passenger comfort and safety and reinforce the spirit and identity of cities and towns." -- -- -- Here's a brief look at what the light-rail stations, some of which are still being built, will offer, according to NJ Transit:

-- The Trenton Train Station will feature abstract tile work and a 19-foot-tall obelisk made of unpainted steel and internally lit at the station entrance.

-- Hamilton Avenue will honor Trenton's history, with artwork of bridges, scissors, pottery, a clock and the State House.

-- Cass Street, the stop nearest to Mercer County Waterfront Park, will feature a baseball player, the Trenton Thunder and that old-time ballpark favorite, peanuts.

-- Bordentown City will spotlight the John Bull steam train, wild tiger lilies and a sail rail.

The John Bull was the first steam engine in New Jersey, starting in 1832 on the Camden & Amboy Railroad. The sail rail was an unsuccessful experiment that involved hooking a sail to a car on train tracks.

The stop also will have directional signs featuring Lucy the Margate elephant, to honor the Jersey Shore to the east; a fish, to honor the Camden aquarium to the south; the "Trenton Makes the World Takes" Bridge, to honor the capital city to the north; and a chicken, honoring the agricultural area to the southwest.

-- Roebling will have a phoenix and the steel factory.

-- Florence's stop at the William C. Haines Industrial Center site will honor agricultural history and wildlife, with column images of urban and nature scenes.

-- Burlington Town Centre will feature a vase with goldfish, grass and local bird species.

-- Burlington South will honor the John Fitch steamboat.

-- Beverly's stop will spotlight the town's symbol - the bee - with beehives and flowers. Artwork of knots is also planned to honor a historic rope factory in the city.

-- Delanco will feature doves, a baseball field in night and winter scenes.

-- Riverside will have commercial boats traveling back and forth, the Philadelphia skyline and a sail rail.

-- Riverton will portray shad and sail boats.

-- Palmyra will pay homage to the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, along with a huge rose and an old house.

-- Route 73 will showcase an archeological layering of the earth transforming into wetlands.

-- The Walter Rand Transportation Center will feature another directional beacon.

-- The Rutgers University stop in Camden will highlight the Harleigh Cemetery with Walt Whitman's mausoleum.

-- The state aquarium stop will feature swimming mackerel in the artwork, along with fish sculptures and other sea life images.

-- The Tweeter Center in Camden, much like the Trenton Train Station, will have abstract tile work and a 19-foot-tall obelisk made of unpainted steel and internally lit at the station's entrance.-- -- -- The 34-mile light rail, featuring diesel, trolley-like train cars, will operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with freight trains using the rail line the other eight hours.

The project was initially projected to cost $603 million but has now ballooned to $813 million, not including $140 million in additional expenses sought by the contractor, the Southern New Jersey Rail Group.

Once financing costs are included, it is expected to cost more than $1 billion.

In September, state transportation officials said the project will cost the state $73 million annually and would never have been approved by the McGreevey administration. They said the money that will be spent on the system could have been spent on other transportation needs.

Initial projections had the line attracting about 9,000 riders each day, but last year state officials downgraded that number to about 6,000 riders per day, or 3,000 round-trip passengers.

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The original Trenton (NJ) Times article, if still online, can be accessed at Public art in transit

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Robert J. Emery