Sierra Madre Villa Station
Untitled, 2003
Tony Gleaton, artist
As commuters make their way from the Sierra Madre Villa Parking and Bus Facility at the terminus of the Metro Gold Line to Pasadena, they enter a steel mesh-enclosed pedestrian bridge with cool blue painted structural beams and posts. As they reach the end of this walkway and enter the station’s stairwells leading to the platform level, they are confronted by Tony Gleaton’s large photographic portraits suspended some 15-feet above them. Printed on two double-sided porcelain enamel steel panels and visible from both directions, the blue-toned portraits echo the blue enclosure of the bridge, and depict local inhabitants the artist describes as “the others.” These photographs reflect the distinct differences and diversity between us all, and mirror the connecting glance, embrace, and human emotion we share and understand together.