Light Rail Station #1 at Montebello and 19th Ave
Artist: Robert Adams, Phoenix, AZ

A terminus station on the METRO light rail starter line, the 19th Ave and Montebello station is one of the tallest. Its high profile was designed to provide shade during the sometimes blistering morning and late afternoon hours. The artwork, 76 dichromatic panels hung across the top of the station columns, compliments this silhouette.

Phoenix-based artist Bob Adams served as the design team artist for this first section of the light rail project. Teamed with architects who shared his sleek, modernist aesthetic he worked to create a clean but dynamic design for this changing neighborhood.

Extending the entire length of the station, the panels are perforated in various sizes and placed directly across from each other to create a moiré effect. This, combined with the metallic purple/green dichromatic paint creates a constantly shifting patter than is set into motion by the movement of both train and traffic. The paint changes color with the angle of the sun from purple to orange on the panels facing out, and purple to green on the inner panels. The art acts as a shifting reflection of the passage of time and motion, a visual refraction of the light and activity around it.

The art at station 1 was designed in tandem with stations 2 and 3. All three station art pieces have a very modern, minimalist sensibility. The artists designed the stations to have a high profile at Montebello, which gradually gets shorter at 19th/Camelback and then is very low and short at 7th/Camelback. The artwork follows this strategy, with Bob’s artwork high above the canopies at Montebello, a large stand along piece at station 2 and artwork on the ground at station 3. The purple sage color you can see on the lower concrete edge of the platform is unique to this segment of the rail line. There is a green edge at station 2 and an orange edge at station 3. The design team worked to integrate and coordinate the pavers with these colors as well.

Bob is a local artist who teaches art and has several other public art works around the Valley.