In summer 2022, I was named a finalist for a public art commission for the Metro Transit System in Madison, Wisconsin. I spent the summmer conducting community interviews with 27 people who rely on Madison buses, 70% of them BIPOC. This is in contrast to City of Madison’s most recent 2019 survey of bus riders, where 84% of those surveyed were white despite Madison’s highly diverse bus ridership. I also interviewed city employees, both those who do and do not use the buses, despite all city employees having access to a free bus pass. By interviewing primarily BIPOC bus riders, my aim is to use this project to elevate the perspectives of commuters who rely on the bus for a wide range of needs.
Via these interviews, I gained a comprehensive picture of the many ways that people rely on public transit, and also what the barriers and limitations are. Here’s a sampling of quotes from my interviews.
“I bus to run errands for my family.” - Katherine
“I bus to visit my parents who live outside the city.” - Carlos
“As a growing adult without a car, public transit means I can be independent. I can take the bus to school and work without having to rely on someone else.” - Daphne
The concept that emerged from these interviews is one that conveys the experience of commuting from the perspective of the bus rider. The artwork, entitled The Time is Ours, embodies a feeling that many bus riders expressed: that even people with the longest commutes feel ownership over their time spent in transit. They don’t have to mind traffic, and the time is theirs to reflect, to read, and to do as they choose. For many people, access to public transit means having independence.
Each section of the artwork starts with a portrait painted on aluminum, of a person looking out the window. Some are traveling with gifts, perhaps to a birthday party or shower. Others have groceries, books, a workbag. What do they see while gazing out the bus window?
There are four sections total in the artwork. Each section delineates the passage of time, distilled to motifs that are subtle but distinct signifiers of life in Madison. The first section shows us melting ice and the first spring crocuses. The second section offers us sunflowers and summer cicadas. The third section offers fluffy milkweed pods and migrating geese. The fourth and final section shows us snow and empty space. This fourth section also starts where tree cover increases along the building, so it will be the most covered in summer and most visible in winter.
Through the proposal I have created, I am demonstrating what public art can be. Each layer of my Metro proposal addresses both the symbolic and systemic aspects of this project such as:
- My interviews with bus riders prioritize and center the perspectives of the people to inform the final artwork
- In my art proposal, I share my plan to partner with a local non-profit to hire studio assistants who rely on the buses to help produce and install the final work
- I designed my artwork to avoid mature tree coverage, so the City cannot use the artwork as a reason to clear tree cover as a part of developing this city corridor
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This summer was a proving ground, years in the making. I’m the only person of color who was a finalist for this high profile public art project, for public transit at a time when there is contentious debate around who the City of Madison is building new transit lines for. I created this proposal as a model for what public art can do to elevate a community, and look forward to the opportunity to bring these possibilities to life.
Watch my video presentation
Read community feedback on the finalist proposals
