Westmoreland Station Celebrates the Hispanic Heritage of West Oak Cliff

Posted on Oct 8, 2018 by kptacek2013
Westmoreland Station LHuerta2 Since the beginning of DART's rail system, the agency's award-winning Station Art and Design Program has ensured its rail stations both reflect and serve as gateways to the surrounding community. For each station, engineers and architects worked closely with artists and neighborhood advisory committees to transform the common elements of a transit station – canopies, columns, pavers, windscreens, fencing and landscaping – into uncommon works of public art. As DART celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, we reflect on the influence the Hispanic community had on the design of Westmoreland Station. In the 1990s, largely Hispanic neighborhoods and a commercial/semi-industrial zone surrounded the Westmoreland Station location in West Oak Cliff. The station's rich colors and textures injected a visual interest and human warmth to the area and reflect its Hispanic heritage. In the words of station artist Leticia Huerta, the station’s design elements “added vibrancy to a diverse neighborhood.” Spanish colonial-era architecture found throughout Mexico inspired the tile work and paving designs. Columns were clad in patterns and styles are reminiscent of handmade Mexican tile and masonry. Roberto Mungia's Familia del Sol – a series of lush, vividly colored panels on the windscreens – depicts events in Mexican culture and mythology. A massive limestone monument by Eliseo GarciaCycles of Life, features a foundation reminiscent of a Mayan pyramid. A winged figure tops four bas-relief sculptures of human interaction, symbolizing the community's hope for the future. Located at the southern end of the Red Line, Westmoreland Station is part of DART Rail’s starter system, which opened in June 1996. #DARTcelebratesheritage
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