DART RIDER INSIDER
Green Means Go!
Educational museums, special events and the State Fair of Texas at Fair Park; the rich musical and arts culture of Deep Ellum; healthy living at Baylor University Medical Center; and the South Dallas spirit of community - they're all connected as the new Green Line glides through downtown and into South Dallas.Objet D'art
The four communities served by the first phase of the Green Line are located in fairly close proximity, but each has its own unmistakable character and flavor.
DART's rail station columns, canopies and platforms are not simply functional elements, they are designed as unique reflections of the communities they serve. They can be historical, whimsical, calming or colorful - sometimes all at once. In a word, DART stations are cool, and the Green Line has some energetic new additions to the growing "DART gallery" of public art.
Deep Ellum Station - Linking the Past and the Future
Railroads formed Deep Ellum, but much has changed since then. The brick structures that remain have been home to businesses as diverse as the people who frequent them: dance halls, restaurants, bars, live music venues, speakeasies, meat markets, pawnshops, vaudeville theatres, art galleries and auto repair shops.
With the area's oral history fading, station artist Julie Cohn strikes a thematic balance between Deep Ellum's legendary past and its hopes for the future. The artwork on the windscreens is a kind of palimpsest - an ancient manuscript that has been written on, scraped off, and used again, creating a layered effect.
Windscreens at Deep Ellum Station
The Traveling Man
For decades, motorists entering the Deep Ellum neighborhood from downtown Dallas on Good-Latimer would drive through a long railroad underpass with concrete walls that became a canvas for local muralists. When it was decided that this iconic "gateway to Deep Ellum" would have to be removed to make way for the new Deep Ellum Station, DART hosted a design competition for an imaginative and highly visible public art project to mark the historic area's reconfigured entryway.
Brandon Oldenburg of Deep Ellum's own Reel FX Creative Studios and Brad Oldham of Dallas-based Brad Oldham Inc. won the commission in 2007. The result - a three-part stainless steel sculpture series called The Traveling Man - delivers spectacularly.
 The superstructure of Traveling Man is shown prior to the installation of stainless-steel skin. |
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The Traveling Man - Walking Tall
Good-Latimer & Swiss Avenue
Traveling Man stands 38-feet tall, creating a stunning welcome to neighborhood visitors and residents. With a jovial step from the southeast side of the lot, he links the neighborhood with the rail station.
The sculpture is brushed stainless steel connected with hundreds of visible stainless steel monobolt rivets. The stainless steel birds on the ground serve as functional seating as well as part of the sculpture. The birds are polished to a mirror finish and made of the same material as the famous Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park.
The Traveling Man - Waiting on a Train
Good-Latimer & Gaston Avenue
A nine-foot Traveling Man leans against a concrete portion of the original Deep Ellum Tunnel and strums his guitar while waiting for the next train. The circular shape of the guitar body resembles the core of his own body, reminding viewers his music comes from his heart.
The Traveling Man - Awakening
Good-Latimer & Elm Street
The Traveling Man's eight-foot-wide head rises from the ground as if he is emerging from the earth below Deep Ellum. As people meet, talk, sing, wait, and spend time in Deep Ellum, they can lounge on his approachable head. Here again, sculptural birds offer their bodies to guests for generous seating.
Baylor University Medical Center Station - On the Pulse
Founded as the Texas Baptist Memorial Sanitarium in 1903, Baylor University Medical Center Station has evolved into one of the nation's outstanding healthcare facilities. Located on the edge of Deep Ellum, Baylor has a different pulse than its neaby neighbor. At Baylor, one might find a doctor or a pastor - someone who takes the pulse of the community each and every day. Deep Ellum, on the other hand, represents a different kind of pulse: the celebration of life through art and music.Station artist Karen Blessen has united these perspectives with the theme "On the Pulse." The station is conceived as a vibrant public space - and, uniquely, includes a two-acre plaza featuring the imprint of a giant fingerprint with five paths representing the five senses. On the station platform, the fluted column shape is a reference to the original Baylor Hospital columns, while the surface of the column erodes to reveal brick material that refers to Deep Ellum. The windscreens pay homage to people who have shaped each community.
Fair Park Station - Keeping With Tradition
 Art deco touches at Fair Park Station |
over the course of three weeks each fall. In its heyday, trolleys once traveled along Parry Avenue in front of the main entrance to Fair Park. But now, DART Rail is doing the same!In creating their vision for this station, artists Brad and Diana Goldberg have paid respect to the rich history of the park as well as the surrounding neighborhoods. They've recreated the art deco look that made the 1936 Centennial so memorable, including using light as an artistic element.
MLK, Jr. Station - Continuing the Story
 African drums and symbols at MLK, Jr. Station |
ties to the African American community, numerous neighborhood facilities also bear Martin Luther King, Jr.'s name, including a library and learning center, a community center, a senior center and a health center. The area is also home to the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce and the South Dallas Cultural Center.Connected to the J.B. Jackson, Jr. Transit Center, the MLK, Jr. Station tells the story of the African American community surrounding it. Featuring images from noted photographer R.C. Hickman, the station offers a visual representation of the events and people of South Dallas. Conceived by artist Emmanuel Gillespie, the station includes a "Walk of Respect" that uses symbols to represent words such as unity, respect and wisdom.
