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With local residents, Seattle artist designs light rail stops


Local residents with memories or personal stories about Apache Boulevard and the Tempe Canal now have the chance to become immortalized in one of Valley Metro's planned light rail stations in the downtown area.

Seattle-based artist Benson Shaw is looking for anecdotes from young and old alike to incorporate into the artwork being designed for the four rail stops that will run along the boulevard from Price Freeway to Dorsey Lane. With the project, Shaw hopes to convey the experience of living and working in the area over a time span of several decades.

"One thing I wanted to do with the other three artists was link to the community," Shaw said.
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According to Shaw, a stained-glass shard mosaic technique will be used to create colorful images related to the selected stories at each rail station. In addition, text excerpts from anecdotes will be engraved on stainless-steel medallions and embedded into the station's concrete platform pavings. The artist has done similar mosaic-style work in previous years, including commissioned murals in the Seattle area and at rail stations in the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system.

Shaw first put out a public appeal to Tempe residents for stories in 2004. With his second appeal, he hopes to receive about 200 e-mail responses over the next few months, about 50 of which are expected to make it into the project's final design. Submissions will be accepted up until the last minute, Shaw said, because the text medallions can be created rather quickly.

The platform pavings containing the artwork are projected to last up to 50 years. Shaw said he hopes they will serve as a "time capsule" for future generations to see and reflect on as "relevant and interesting objects from the time period they were created."

He encourages contributors to interview themselves and others with connections to the area in order to collect experiences from a wide range of eras. He is also interested in story submissions in different languages, along with an English translation, to reflect the city's diversity.

Submissions can be sent via e-mail to apachestories@bensonshaw.com. Each submission should be linked with contact information and contributors should be aware that their stories may become public record. The artist's original appeal contains further details about the project and examples of previously submitted stories.

Shaw said he will also personally be in town on May 14 to meet with residents and listen to suggestions and ideas for the project. The second public appeal for submissions is in the process of being published and will be released in the near future.

The 20-mile Valley Metro light rail system is currently under construction throughout Tempe and is slated to begin operation in December 2008. The public can view proposed plans for each station's artwork on the Valley Metro Web site at valleymetro.org.

Reach the reporter at: obeytheoctopus@cox.net.


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