I went on  a “Beta Tour” of Public Art on the Gold Line with Michael Several last Saturday.  The Gold Line is a grade level light rail that runs from Union Station NE to Pasadena about 15 miles.  It follows the right-of-way of the old Santa Fe Railway.  A small percentage of the construction cost of each station was set aside for public art.  Some of it was used for ornate fences and benches, some for murals and some for statues.  There were about a ozen people on the tour and it was excellent.

I’ve just posted a few pictures here to whet your appetite.  To see more visit my album on Flickr or even better take the Gold Line and get off at every station.  We started our tour at the Del Mar Station:

Industrial fencing

We stopped at the Mission Station in South Pasadena and saw the Walking Man:

Then at the Southwest Museum Station.  Which was my favorite:

Whimsical palm tree lights

and even more whimsical angelish creatures on tall plinths

At the Lincoln Cypress Station we saw a very good sculpture of the first municipal employee of Los Angeles:

A water woman

Our final stop was the Chinatown Station which features a very complicated Chinese horoscope dial:

Our guide, Michael Several, is the one in the center in the dark blue shirt.

There is not yet a brochure or a self guided iPhone tour available.  If you have questions or would like a tour contact Michael at mseveral@sbcglobal.net

One of the people on our tour was Ruth Wallach who has created a very useful website called PublicArtInLA.com

I wrote about Michael Several a couple of years ago when he gave a tour of the Public Art of Downtown Los Angeles. Recently I posted a story about Public Art in Colorado after we visited there.

And finally don’t forget my personal contribution to public art: Stone Fountains