When the 2 Line Crosslake Connection opens on March 28, riders will not only experience a more connected region. Public art installations at the two new stations, Judkins Park and Mercer Island, will also welcome riders and reflect the culture, history, and natural beauty of the places they serve.
From murals celebrating a legendary local musician to suspended sculptures inspired by the region’s boating history, each artwork connects riders to the places they travel through every day.
The goal of the Sound Transit Art Program (STart) is to create spaces within transit facilities that reflect the communities around them and provide riders with a sense of connection and belonging.
Artists for the new stations were selected through a collaborative process involving community representatives, arts organizations, and project stakeholders. Their work adds creativity and meaning to the new light rail extension, transforming stations into vibrant cultural landmarks.
Judkins Park Station: Honoring culture, community, and creativity
At Judkins Park Station, two celebrated artists bring powerful visual storytelling to the station’s entrances and platform.
At the station entrances, artist Hank Willis Thomas created two large-scale photomurals of legendary Seattle musician Jimi Hendrix. One image depicts Hendrix early in his life, while the other captures him at the height of his fame — reflecting both the hope of youth and the complexities of global fame.
The murals were created using photographs from the Hendrix Archives provided by Hendrix’s sister, Janie Hendrix. Rendered in porcelain enamel and bronze-anodized perforated panels, the murals use a halftone pattern that shifts depending on the viewer’s distance. From afar, the portraits appear crisp and cohesive; up close, they dissolve into abstract fields of light and color.
The artwork, titled Crosstown Traffic (It’s So Hard To Get Through To You), reflects Thomas’s broader artistic practice exploring identity, media, and cultural memory. By placing Hendrix at the station entrances, the artwork highlights the musician’s enduring legacy and connection to Seattle’s Central District and surrounding neighborhoods.
“Hank Willis Thomas works a lot with historic and contemporary photographic images, exploring race, culture, and the way those things intersect,” said Kurt Kiefer, senior project manager for public art at Sound Transit. “The pieces are designed so that as you approach them the image begins to disappear, and as you move away it comes back into focus — creating a sense of the fleeting nature of fame and memory.”
On the station platform, laminated glass windscreens by Barbara Earl Thomas transform everyday transit spaces into a story about place and community.
The design for A Walk in the Neighborhood was inspired by the artist’s signature cut-paper style, with imagery reflecting the people, plants, animals, and experiences that shape her daily life.
Thomas also drew inspiration from her frequent walks throughout the city.
“My best walks have no destination and can change mid-stride if something catches my eye,” Thomas said. “Great walks are ones where the sights and scents identify the season.”
Observations from those walks — turtles sunbathing along Lake Washington, red-winged blackbirds calling from trees, and urban farms spilling onto city sidewalks — form a layered portrait of a larger community.
Eight tactile plaque artworks on the platform columns echo elements of the nearby windscreens, allowing blind and low-vision riders to experience the artwork through touch. The idea grew in part from conversations with the nearby Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind.
Working with a local fabricator, elements of Thomas’s imagery, paired with a short written reflection, were translated into raised plaques about her walks in the neighborhood.
“Barbara was really collaborative in this aspect of the project,” Kiefer said. “She let us take pieces of her work and translate them into tactile images so riders could explore the story through touch.”
Through vivid images and words, Thomas invites riders to imagine the city as a shared neighborhood — one where nature, culture, and storytelling intertwine.
Mercer Island Station: A tribute to the lake’s history
At Mercer Island Station, artist Beliz Brother looked to Lake Washington’s past to create sculptural tributes to the water routes that once connected the region.
Her paired sculptures, stroke and crossing, are inspired by the paddles and oars used to navigate the lake before bridges connected Mercer Island to Seattle and the Eastside.
Brother says her own connection to the lake helped shape the artwork.
“The lake is really important to me. I swim almost every day in the summer, so I feel connected,” she said. “Mercer Island wasn’t connected to land for many years — the form of transportation was boats: ferries and canoes, sailboats and rowboats.”
At the station’s west entrance, stroke appears as a suspended cluster of paddles and oars hovering above the staircase. The sculpture brings together forms from a wide range of watercraft — including canoe, rowboat, scull, kayak, paddleboard, long boat, and racing shell — inspired by those that might have been used to cross Lake Washington in the days before bridges and light rail.
At the east entrance, crossing suggests the delicate outline of a small boat rising gently on a wave.
“Beliz started by thinking about water and how important it is to island communities,” Kiefer said. “Her focus quickly became the history of water travel to and from Mercer Island — the boats and oars that once connected people across the lake.”
Together, the sculptures evoke the many vessels that once carried people across Lake Washington, bridging past and present by honoring Mercer Island’s maritime heritage while welcoming riders to a new era of regional transit.
Experience art along the Crosslake Connection
Whether commuting to work or exploring new neighborhoods, riders are encouraged to take a moment to stop and look around. The art at Judkins Park and Mercer Island stations transforms each stop into a locus of creativity, history, and reflection.
The 2 Line Crosslake Connection opens March 28. Plan your trip and discover the art for yourself!