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Visions of community: From workshops to glyphs to art
Three community workshops helped artist Romson Bustillo develop a visual language and design for Pinehurst Station’s permanent artwork.
When Pinehurst Station opens on Sept. 30, riders will be greeted by art in part inspired by their own neighbors—motifs that began as ideas transformed into prints during hands-on workshops in North Seattle.
Sound Transit hired artist Romson Bustillo to lead workshops that helped shape the direction of the Pinehurst Station’s artwork. Bustillo employs glyphs as stylized yet recognizable images for this project.
In the workshops, participants explored flora, fauna, and structures local to the Pacific Northwest as well as images carried in memory from other places. Bustillo synthesized what participants shared with his own Filipino background, and did additional research to create new glyphs and patterns that riders can discover over time.
Having attended school in the Pinehurst area strengthened Bustillo’s vision for the artwork and aligned with the local and PNW themes that emerged from the workshop series.
Across the workshops, a consistent theme included proximity to water and landscape—connections to Puget Sound, mountains on the horizon, and marine and aquatic plant and animal life. Bustillo notes that some glyphs will read clearly as Pacific Northwest references. Other shapes are more suggestive, inviting riders to connect them to personal memories and experiences.
'Our workshops allowed us to share the direction of the project hands on, to have a creative dialogue with community members in a fun participatory way.' -Romson Bustillo
The workshops contributed to a library of glyphs that informed three artwork displays planned for the station: a tile feature wall, a suite of enamel panels, and a stenciled column. The process centered on local stories from the outset and transformed them into durable materials suitable for a high-traffic transit space.
Bustillo describes his broader public-art practice as connected to the idea of a “Proximity Modifier”—how place, context, and cues can shift meaning. At Pinehurst, the goal is for riders and neighbors to feel the artwork is for them, with details that reward both first impressions and repeat visits.
