WonderRoot’s bringing art to MARTA

MARTA stations around town are going get a facelift compliments of WonderRoot, the TransFormation Alliance, and artist Fahamu Pecou. The nonprofit arts organization partnered with the TransFormation Alliance — community advocates, policy experts, non-profit, and for-profit developers, transit providers, and government agencies — for the what’s being dubbed as the “En Route” program. The initiative’s goal is to bring public art installations to MARTA stations around town.
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? The En Route program is funded by a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and will start with four murals from Pecou. The visual artist known for fusing elements of hip-hop, fine art, and pop culture will create pieces inspired by the themes centered on access, mobility, and public transportation. Pecou’s coming off his High Museum of Art exhibition, Imagining New Worlds, a collaboration with José Parlá, inspired by twentieth-century artist Wifredo Lam.
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? “WonderRoot is inspired by the leadership of MARTA and the TransFormation Alliance for investing in public art as a tool for community organizing and placemaking,” WonderRoot’s Executive Director Chris Appleton said in a release announcing the news. “WonderRoot’s greatest work happens in partnership with allies such as these.”
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? The first MARTA stations to get the Pecou treatment will be King Memorial, Oakland City, and Hamilton E. Homes, with the fourth stop to be named at a later date. “The En Route program and partnerships are an exciting opportunity to use public art as a tool to celebrate and strengthen Atlanta’s communities by improving the transit experience,” MARTA GM/CEO Keith T. Parker said in a prepared statement. “The arts are a key component of our long-term vision to make MARTA an attractive mode of transportation.”