Mercer Island Station got a pop of color this summer, as public art pieces by local artist Beliz Brother were installed.
It's amazing to see new transit stations coming together and getting ready to serve the public.
Our team was onsite for the art installation, and so was Brother. Check out a video of the install:
One of Brother's pieces, a bottle-brush-like cluster of oars suspended above the entrance staircase, serves as a reference to the island's boating culture.
Brother took inspiration for historical photographs, and from life experience.
"It was an island that was not connected to land for many years – it didn’t have a bridge until 1940," Brother said. "The form of transportation was boats: ferries and canoes, sailboats and rowboats."
Brother creates elegant sculptural objects inspired by natural forms, often in contrast to their architectural settings.
The second sculpture above the staircase at the east entrance is a delicate, balancing form of simple shapes, suggesting the bobbing of a boat upon the water.
"The lake is really important to me," Brother said. "It’s almost a daily occurrence that I walk along the lake… and see Mercer Island. I swim almost every day in the summer. So I feel connected."
Light rail will connect Mercer Island to the rest of the regional transit network when the East Link Extension opens as the 2 Line. Go here for more information about the East Link project.
Fourteen miles long, East Link includes 10 stations from Seattle's International District to Judkins Park, across I-90 to Mercer Island and South Bellevue, and through downtown Bellevue and the Bel-Red area to Redmond Technology Station.
Public art at the stations is funded by the Sound Transit Art, or STart, program. Go here for more information.
More art stories
Hopefully this isn't the first time you've run across our continuing coverage of art projects.
Check out our past stories for more action shots and information.
Sound Transit station art and artists featured at Bellevue Art Museum exhibition
Art brings new stations to life
Fresh pics: Honoring Jimi Hendrix at Judkins Park Station
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