Purple Line Personality

Art-in-Transit Project to Put Aesthetic Touch on New Stations

By Liam Farrell Aug 28, 2019

Rendering by Legge Lewis Legge

At the Campus Drive-UMD Purple Line station, glass panels in the canopy will cover everything in UMD colors.

The Purple Line project won’t just connect communities in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. It will reflect them.

The Art-in-Transit Program for the new 16.2-mile light-rail line has commissioned public art at each of the 21 stations on the Purple Line, now under construction, including the five on or near the University of Maryland.

The initiative, which aims to enhance the aesthetics of the light-rail system and celebrate neighborhood identities, drew hundreds of proposals after it was announced five years ago. That group was winnowed to 95, and a decision committee of representatives from the Maryland Transit Administration, Purple Line Transit Partners, arts councils and the surrounding communities, recently announced its selections.

“We wanted the art to speak to the community, communicate the history of the community, the character of it,” said Michael Madden, deputy project director of the Purple Line. “We feel we really got the best of the best.”

The $6 million allocated for the art will be divided evenly between Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, with contracts negotiated over the next year and the projects installed by 2021.

Here are some details on the art chosen for Purple Line stations at or near UMD:

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