EL-VIEWS
Chauncey Street Station, Brooklyn, NY
photo courtesy of MTA
photo courtesy of Raquel Ortiz-Rodriguez
photo courtesy of Raquel Ortiz-Rodriguez
photo courtesy of Raquel Ortiz-Rodriguez
photo courtesy of Raquel Ortiz-Rodriguez
Below are the 16 individual glass pieces (in sets of four) from El-Views, Dominguez' commission with MTA Arts for Transit and Design, fabricated by Willet Stain Glass Studios. Following each group of glass pieces are the corresponding original 13" X 13" paintings on paper used for the MTA proposal.
About EL-VIEWS
Chauncey Street Station
After a series of city wide competitions, in 2001 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) MTA Arts and Design in New York City commissioned new public art works along the elevated subway stations of the M line in Brooklyn, NY. Among those selected by a jury of art peers was Maria DomÃnguez. Sixteen original paintings from her Urban Series were transformed into dazzling stain glass jewels by the Willet Stain Glass Studios.
El-Views, now a permanent installation for the Chauncey Street station, captures a slice of "daily life" from this Bushwick community. The motifs are those precious daily tasks so often overlooked in the heavy demands of a busy city life. Commuters and visitors alike can identify some of the local scenes in the area. Outside, on the platform level, they will find twelve glass panels while inside the mezzanine four panels add warmth to the enclosed space.
The pictorial language developed by Maria Dominguez stimulates the daily commuters and those who choose to visit the site. The 16 glass panels are 13' X 13' each. The design and rich color of her palette only serves to heighten the finished glass product, which becomes an object of beauty. Reflective of its environment local residents can identify with the vignettes created by the artist.
El-Views, among 16 other installations, received the "Excellence in Design" award in 2003 from the New York Municipal Society. The MTA has upgraded stations for almost twenty years, enhancing these locations with more than 160 works of art. Maria DomÃnguez' award winning effort will continue to stand as a model for this vital program.