Check out the art that could decorate Prince George’s Purple Line stations

On Tuesday, I wrote about some of my favorite public art proposals for the future Purple Line stations in Montgomery County. This post does the same, but with the candidates for future Prince George's County stations.

The Purple Line, slated to open in 2022, will be a light rail line that connects Montgomery and Prince George's Counties via a 16 mile track between Bethesda and New Carrollton. These are the planned Prince George's Stations:

As I previously explained, Purple Line Transit Partners, the team working to build the new line, is running a program called Art-in-Transit to plan art installations at each of the Purple Line's 21 stations. After the public weighs in on these proposals and provides feedback, a selection panel from Maryland Transit Authority will award contracts to the winning artists.

You can find a more detailed description of the contest and all of the art submissions for both Montgomery and Prince George's here.

New Carrollton station, Heidi Lippman

The first colorful entry, called Facets, comes from artist Heidi Lippman, who says she sees communities like a “multifaceted organism that evolves over time.” She says the interactions between people on the Metro, and people interacting with her work, are dynamic and evolving, a thought that's represented in a bold color scheme that will change with time of day and season:

The colors, while representing diversity and dynamic interaction, also have simpler meanings: a sub theme to the work, Dusk and Dawn, and purple, representing the Purple Line.

And, a little bit of dusk:

M Square station, Ray King

Regardless of its ultimate fate in the Art-in-Transit contest, Ray King's “Toroidal Beacon” is my personal favorite because of its futuristic appearance. His inspiration for the project are nearby NOAA and the National Institute of Physics, but he draws primary inspiration from science, mathematics, and how astronomers have interacted with the sun for thousands of years.

Glass facets, coated with a thin film developed by NASA, will project one color but reflect its opposite, and the structure's LED lighting for night will be powered by solar panels on top. King says all the materials he'll use are durable and easy to clean.

Riverdale Park station, Mikyoung Kim

Mikyoung Kim's “Pendulum Gateway” piqued my interest mainly because it looks like a forest grotto, and who can't use more plants in their life? Once finished, passengers will be able to interact with this art project via the “vertical folded columns” that double as seats at ground level.

The columns will stretch up into the overpass and taper off into a reflective cap, lit by LED lights, which will extend the canopy and mimic light filtering through the trees. Both the wind and passenger interaction will make the interplay between nature and light come alive in the Riverdale Park Station “grove.”

The sculpture by itself:

Riggs Road station, Dan Maginn

In order to dispel the suspicion that surrounds one of our most defining characteristics, Maginn's “Print Veils” puts fingerprints out in the open. If selected, the Print Veil team plans to engage the community through workshops at several local grade schools, where students will learn about fingerprints and develop their own artwork related to them. This uniquely human light rail stop will be created “in the spirit of those workshops.”

Fingerprints may be a physically defining characteristic, but they can also provide shade:

Annapolis Road-Glenridge station, Jann Rosen-Queralt

In keeping with the celebration of cultural diversity and the dynamic change associated with human population, Jann Rosen-Queralt's concept will represent the past, present, and future of immigrant communities in Prince George's County by using the national flower of a number of countries. Also, national and local pride will be represented by the American Beauty Rose and Maryland's Black-Eyed Susan.

The transition from past to future will come alive in three distinct ways: a DNA barcode that represents species that have gone extinct due to environmental change; color schemes derived from flowers in full bloom, and a changing kaleidoscope of color that “speculates” on future species of plants we have yet to discover.

Thank you for walking through this virtual art gallery with me! If you want to provide feedback on these, or any of the other submissions to Art-in-Transit, head here.