Art at Amtrak Program to Launch in Philadelphia at Gray 30th Street Station in October

Public art initiative commissions regional artists to create large-scale station artwork

PHILADELPHIA – Amtrak is expanding its celebrated year-round, public art program to William H. Gray 30^th Street Station with work by local visual artist, Adam Crawford, entitled Euphonic & Chromatic Drift. This large-scale vinyl mural will grace the window facades on both the East and West ends of the transportation hub.

Art at Amtrak®, the official public art program of Amtrak, presents diverse, unique and memorable art projects to enhance, invigorate and humanize the travel experience at Amtrak stations. Featuring contemporary artists through rotating exhibitions, Art at Amtrak® reflects and celebrates each region’s creative preeminence.

“Art at Amtrak has commissioned Adam Crawford to create a large-scale art installation for integration directly into the renowned architecture of Gray 30^th Street Station,” said Jina Sanone, Amtrak Vice President, Northeast Corridor Service Line. “Our goal is to showcase the work of this local artist while enhancing the natural beauty of the station and improving the overall experience for our customers.”

The art installation will open in October and remain on display until winter 2024. Art at Amtrak is being implemented in addition to a large-scale restoration and renovation project also underway at Gray 30^th Street Station.

Crawford’s practice is grounded in his desire to create visually engaging and stylistically unique artwork that engages a diverse audience. When developing the Art at Amtrak commission, Crawford focused on the strong lines of the existing architecture, the verticality and height of the space and the spatial symmetry of the main concourse. He also considered the relationship between motion and sound and how both are amplified in a major transit hub, ultimately impacting its overall energy.

Crawford has lived and worked in Philadelphia for 29 years. Crawford earned an AA in Fine Art from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and continued his studies at the University of Pennsylvania to earn a BFA in 2002. Crawford is particularly drawn to both interior and exterior large-scale commissions and his work can be found in Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, D.C, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Nashville, Cleveland and Las Vegas.

Amtrak launched Art at Amtrak in June 2022 in New York Penn Station and has expanded to Washington Union Station. The program has commissioned installations by various New York and New Jersey based artists including Derrick Adams, Dennis RedMoon Darkeem, Dahlia Elsayed, David Rios Ferreira, Ghost of a Dream, Shoshanna Weinberger and Saya Woolfalk. Adams was the first artist to create original digital work for the four large screens in Moynihan Train Hall.

The Metropolitan Lounge at Moynihan Train Hall features new work from multidisciplinary visual artist Karen Margolis, on view through Summer 2024. Washington Union Station recently launched Art at Amtrak with a large-scale piece by DC-based, multidisciplinary visual artist, Tim Doud.

Amtrak has engaged Debra Simon Art Consulting to curate and produce Art at Amtrak. Simon was Director of Public Art at the Times Square Alliance; created Arts Brookfield, the largest privately funded public art program in the United States; and co-founded the River-to-River festival.

The advisory committee for Art at Amtrak comprises members of the art world with local community leaders, including:

• Jane Golden, Founder and Executive Director of Mural Arts Philadelphia (Mural Arts)
• Sharon Tepper, Director, Infrastructure Planning NY Gateway Program, Amtrak
• Debra Simon, Curator, Art at Amtrak and President, Debra Simon Art Consulting

More information about Art at Amtrak can be found here.