THE INHABITANTS

As I met with residents of the neighborhoods that would be home to three new streetcar stations, the love for their collective spaces came through in enthusiastic descriptions of all the different activities, the distinctiveness of the architecture, the large trees, and all the different animals that make their homes there. I decided to celebrate these treasures by cramming as much delight into the station artworks as I could. Each screen design reflects actual buildings in the neighborhoods that the streetcar stops serve: Maple-Ash and Mitchell Park at the 9th Street stop, the Southwest corner of the ASU campus at the 11th Street stop, and University Park at the College Avenue stop. The screens, integrated into the station architecture, providing late-day shade, are cut from 3/4”-thick aluminum plate, which gives the inhabitants room to sit. The panels are populated by small cast-aluminum sculptures of animal and human residents: a potter, a dancer, a gardener, a woman drinking coffee, a man sleeping under a tree… a dog, a cat, a peacock, a bat, a fox, a pair of lovebirds… each sculpted simply, as though out of play-dough, giving people at the station some company while they wait.

Date: 2021
Location: Tempe Streetcar stations
at Mill Ave & 9th St, Mill & 11th St,
and College Ave & Apache Ave. Tempe, AZ
Commissioning Agency: Valley Metro
Project Managers: MB Finnerty
Materials: Water-jet aluminum and cast aluminum.
Fabricators: Bollinger Atelier.