Art at Amtrak Expands to Chicago Union Station

Acclaimed Public Art Series Makes Chicago Debut with Three Large-Scale, Site-Specific Installations

CHICAGO – Amtrak’s innovative Art at Amtrak series of temporary public art works is now on display at Chicago Union Station. Part of a rapid expansion of the initiative from New York Penn Station to other Amtrak stations, based on its success, this Chicago debut of Art at Amtrak features works by three acclaimed, contemporary artists who live and work in the city: Caroline Kent, Chad Kouri, and POSE (Jordan Nickel). They will remain on view through Summer 2025.

Visual artist Caroline Kent’s mural, Daydreaming, covers over 40 panels at with large, abstract shapes that overlap soft pinks, blues, and yellows with richer shades of dark blue, gray, and deep green. Where these colors intersect, new hues emerge, reflecting the vibrancy of cityscapes. Inspired by various elements encountered during travel—architectures, landscapes, the horizon, sculptures—Kent’s shapes invite interpretation and imaginative associations. The overall mood conveys serene, bright, and sentimental introspection—a reflection of the emotional states experienced by travelers, whether weary or filled with anticipation. Daydreaming’s layers create depth and complexity, symbolizing the layers of experience one encounters while journeying through life and how they are embedded in memory.

Multidisciplinary artist Chad Kouri created a sequence of metallic orbs strung together across the windows of a vacant retail space to provide opportunities for quiet reflection and self-awareness. The work, entitled Reflection Pools Monument, evokes motion—both up and down, in and out—as the viewer’s eyes roll across its length. The titular “pools”—simple, austere, metallic surfaces—are arranged in flowing, repetitive motion to strike a balance between sophistication and playfulness, a core tenant of Kouri’s practice.

Pop artist POSE’s mural, Accord, is loosely inspired by a wedding photo shoot he observed during his first site visit to the station. The photo shoot reminded the artist that the transit hub represents connection, brings people closer together, and ultimately makes relationships possible. He used that concept as a springboard for the nonlinear, bright visual narrative of Accord, which depicts an oversized comic strip bursting from its own panels. The mural boldly engulfs travelers, each enmeshed in a personal journey of their own. Like the characters in Accord, POSE encourages travelers to go beyond what is familiar, explore the world, and connect with others.

Art at Amtrak is co-conceived, curated, and produced by Debra Simon Art Consulting. Since Amtrak launched the program in June 2022 at New York Penn Station, it has expanded to Washington Union Station, Moynihan Train Hall in New York, William H. Gray III 30^th Street Station in Philadelphia, and now, Chicago Union Station. Artists commissioned for the program have included William Kentridge, Shahzia Sikander, Derrick Adams, and Joshua Frankel, among many others. In addition to the works at Chicago Union Station, the Fall 2024 Art at Amtrak exhibitions include works by Chitra Ganesh and Eirini Linardaki at Penn Station, Nekisha Durrett at Washington Union Station, and Roxana Azar at Gray 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. More information about Art at Amtrak and a complete list of artists can be found here.

About the Artists

Caroline Kent (b. 1975, Sterling, IL) is a Chicago-based visual artist who explores the relationship between language, translation, and abstraction through an expanded painting practice. Kent labors to expand the discourse of abstraction to include alternative logics that move beyond surface and frame through each act of translation, from one medium to the next, and from one color palette to another. Kent received a B.A. at Illinois State University (1998) and received her M.F.A. from The University of Minnesota (2008). Kent has exhibited nationally at The Flag Art Foundation, NY, The Walker Art Center, MN, The Depaul Art Museum, Chicago, The California African American Museum, LA, The Suburban, Chicago, and The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

Chad Kouri (b. 1985, Clarkston, MI) is a Chicago-based working artist, musician, and cultural worker known for his intuitive, vibrant compositions that utilize the healing powers of improvisation, color, and abstraction. His multidisciplinary studio practice mirrors his mixed-race identity. Utilizing a wide range of skills and strategies, Kouri reminds us to stay curious and make time for play, rest, and introspection, enabling us more bandwidth for personal and collective grounding, understanding, and empowerment.

Artist POSE (Jordan Nickel) has an inventive ability to take common objects and emotions and transform them into impactful, elaborate artworks through his signature use of vivid colors, layered symbolism, multimedia application, and dense storylines. His attempt at making sense of his surroundings through visual art began with graffiti and has matured into studio work that blends illustration, lettering, and comic book references in a vibrant pop aesthetic. He gravitates towards universal human emotions like love, loss, and triumph and presents them in both small and large-scale two dimensional artworks and three dimensional installations. He was born in Illinois and currently lives and works in Chicago.