Beacon Hill Light Rail Station artwork to reflect community's fabric

"Common Threads" by Seattle-based artist Carl Smool, has been selected as the artwork for Sound Transit's future Beacon Hill Link Light Rail Station plaza. The artwork, inspired by textile patterns from around the world, consists of metal lanterns, banners, and carpets designed for the plaza to be built at the corner of Seattle's Beacon Avenue South and South Lander Street.

An image of the Common Threads proposal is attached. The colorfully painted banners and lanterns will move with the wind. Metal "carpets" in the plaza paving will welcome users and mark pathways. The textile patterns, representing the ethnic diversity of the community, may also occur on plaza benches and railings. The project is part of Sound Transit's One Percent for Art Program - STart.

"We're grateful for the contributions that members of the Beacon Hill community made in reviewing the four strong proposals we received and grateful to the artists for participating in this process," said Carol Valenta, STart Program Administrator. "We're excited about the role the station will play as a vibrant focal point for the community. This artwork will contribute to making the station something people take pride in."

From Dec. 10-20, members of the community had a chance to view models of the proposals at El Centro de la Raza and submit comments. Proposals by artists Harold Hoy, Lauren Grossman, and Paul Sorey also received positive comments, but Smool's "Common Threads" proposal was best received. As one community member wrote: "These are lovely! This (proposal) is colorful and tasteful, and it really tries to be inclusive of the ethnic diversity of Beacon Hill."

In addition to strong public support, station engineers and architects determined "Common Threads" can be successfully integrated into the station plaza design and meets criteria for safety and low maintenance.

Over the next month, artist Smool will refine the artwork proposal and work with the design team to integrate the artwork into the plaza. The results of this work will be shared with the public during a Sound Transit station design meeting planned for early March.

The attached image is available in higher resolution upon request.

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Sound Transit plans, builds and operates regional transit systems and services to improve mobility for Central Puget Sound.