Anaheim Station
Local Odysseys, 1994
Terry Braunstein, artist
Local Odysseys, Terry Braunstein's project for the Anaheim Station, is a series of fourteen photo-montages that have been fabricated into porcelain enamel panels dealing with community, values, and travel. This project utilizes contemporary photographs of "local heroes" from the station area who have contributed to the community in ways that do not usually receive wide recognition, such as volunteers in community service organizations. Also included in the montages are large figures from art history who represent those values and qualities that form our different cultural backgrounds and with which we unconsciously interact. Antique cartographic imagery is used to indicate the great arenas in which these timeless interactions occur and in which these local odysseys take place.
"The people from the community who participated in this work inspired me to think beyond my initial ideas for this piece. They brought with them both a strong sense of self in relation to their own individual cultures and an intense community pride. The location of this station is an intersection where people from many different cultures interact daily. Like those traveling on the Metro, we are all voyagers, pausing for a moment to notice our fellow travelers—the rich variety they bring to our world because of all the places they have been. As we come together at this station, we all bring these pasts, making our community that much richer as a result. I was interested in the question, 'Can people with drastically different backgrounds, cultures and values live together?' This work gave me the answer."