Arrive Magazine - September, 2012

All Aboard!

The Art Around Us

This has been an exciting year for both Amtrak and art lovers across the Northeast, as institutions such as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia have expanded into modern facilities that increase access to their collections. But art is found not only in fine museums—it’s all around us if we stop to look. Travelers along the Northeast Corridor, and the Amtrak network at large, might be surprised at the beautiful works that adorn stations throughout the country.

Wilmington station, designed by Philadel-
phia architect Frank Furness and opened to
the public in 1908, is a downtown landmark.
Although Furness often celebrated the raw
strength of new industrial materials such as
steel, his interiors are sprinkled with delicate
touches, including the beautiful scrolling
metalwork found in the banister of the main
staircase. When a restoration was carried out in
the mid-1980s, a work by regional artist Joyce
Kozlo; was installed in the French Street vesti-
bule. Inspired by Furness’ sketches, she created
thousands of hand-painted tiles arranged in
geometric patterns; some of the tiles replicate
the architect’s drawings—almost like pages
from his notebooks. After a 20-month, $38 mil-
lion rehabilitation that wrapped up last year, the
historic Wilmington station is ready to serve
21st-century passengers
In Baltimore, Jonathan Borofsky’s 52-foot-
tall aluminum sculpture installed in front of the
grand beaux-arts station has opened a public
dialogue about what constitutes “art” and the
form it should take in public spaces. In West-
erly, R.I., a sculpture near the depot was funded
through a “1% for Public Art” law. Designed
by Kam Gha;ari, the work incorporates three
granite boulders in shades of red, blue and
pink that bring to mind the town’s former
quarries and carving workshops. Interspersed
among the stacked stones are three bronze fish

representative of the ample fisheries discovered by early colonists.

Admirers of art deco have long found much to love about the multimodal Newark Penn Station. From the waiting room’s slightly bowed ceiling hang four chandeliers crafted with white bronze and flashed opal glass. The celestial orbs are ringed by bands of figures representing the signs of the zodiac. Along the upper walls, sculpted medallions trace the evolution of transportation through images such as a covered wagon and an electric locomotive.

And I don’t think anyone who passes through Philadelphia 30th Street Station ever forgets the memorial erected by the Pennsylvania Railroad to commemorate the more than 1,300 employees who died in service during World War II. Sculpted by Walker Hancock, who had taught for more than 30 years at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the bronze work depicts a towering angel clasping a dead soldier—a strong testament to the true losses inflicted by war.

I hope that as you travel today, you take a few minutes to explore the station—and the works of art that might be just around the corner. Thank you for riding with us, and please let a member of the crew know if we can do anything to make your journey more comfortable.