A rider’s guide to SEPTA’s Art in Transit

IT TOOK SEVEN punches on a SEPTA eight-ride One Day Convenience Pass ($7) to see 10 Art in Transit projects — a three-hour journey on the Market-Frankford and Broad Street lines, with a stop at Suburban Station. Many of the projects are beyond the ticket gates and thus viewable for paying riders only. The projects vary widely and although they all succeed as public art, some can't compete with SEPTA's overwhelming infrastructure of walls, exposed beams, platforms, stairways and gates. The best stay true to the artist's studio practice while adding boldness and whimsy to the transit system. (Note: * indicates a transit ticket is required to see the piece.)

Margery Amdur

"Walking on Sunshine"* 2012

Spring Garden Subway Station at Broad Street

Pass the ticket gates and walk down the steps to the platform where six separate floor cloths are embedded on the concrete walkways. Rich colors and lush imagery make this an unexpected delight. Poured resin and fabric.

Barbara Jane Bullock

"Dancers" 2009

46th Street Elevated Station at Market Street

Climb the steps (or take elevator) to the floor above street level. Bullock's large, painted aluminum cutouts of dancing figures sit on the wall high above the ticket window. This joyous piece of art — evoking jazz, mambo and other musical rhythms — more than holds its own in the metal, tile and glass space.

Robert Woodward

"Looking-Glass"* 2012

Girard Street Subway Station on Broad Street

Once beyond the ticket booth, go down the steps and stop on the stairs to see the "windows" inserted below the stair rail on either side. Embedded in the colored resin are materials gathered from the Girard neighborhood, such as photos, metal washers and shavings, glass lenses and mirrors. Be sure to look closely at this surprisingly intimate public work.

Barbara Grygutis

"Lifelines" 2006

Suburban Station Concourse, 16th Street and JFK Boulevard

Your first sighting of this piece is at street level, where the tips of five glass "leaves" peek out from their underground plaza and suggest shark fins or boat sails. Stand at the observation rail around the space for a great bird's eye view of the aluminum, glass, light and granite work, and take the nearby steps down to the glass-enclosed sculpture garden for the full effect. Benches accommodate lunchtime crowds, and mirrored glass on the inside of the space enhances the sense of a secret garden.

Ed Hughes

"Brighter Moments" 2009

56th Street Elevated Station at Market Street

Four support pillars hold up the El at 56th and Market. Ceramic tiles adorn all four sides of each pillar, with photographic imagery from 100 years of neighborhood history. Up the stairs and past the ticket gates (ticket required), Hughes has adorned several support beams on the platforms with brightly colored ceramic tile that suggests undulating leaves.

Erica and Henry Loustau

"Before, Now, Tomorrow" 2008

"Onward and Upward"* 2008

"Constellation"* 2008

52nd Street Elevated Stationat Market Street

Up the steps (or elevator) at ticket-window level is an abstract, totem-like wall sculpture of a series of colored, powder-coated steel dials, gears and wheels. It's above the elevator and somewhat invisible in the busy, high-ceilinged space. Beyond the ticket gate (ticket required) and up the steps to the platform are two more sculptures with gears and wheels suggesting transportation and the ticking movement of a watch. The pieces pay homage to a beloved public clock that was once at the intersection.

Richard Goloveyko

"Groundswell"* 2006

8th Street Station, Market-Frankford line

Beyond the ticket gate, walk down to the platform and you'll be startled by the zany, electropolished stainless-steel benches that seem to float in the space (they are bolted to the walls). Pinched in like a loosely folded piece of paper, they provide a shelf to rest your bags on or lean against. People were doing both when I visited.

Rafe Ropek

North Philadelphia Transportation Center 2008

Glenwood and Broad Street; also at Lehigh Avenue

At the street-level entrance to the subway station are muscular bronze and steel gates with imagery suggesting Latino masks from the Taino culture. The zigzag border pattern adds finish and suggests you are looking at an art piece, not a decorated gate. The gates are closed at night but open during the day, when they are visible as a kind of louvered grillwork separating the station from the street.

Victor Johnson and David Stephens

"Reflections on 7 Steps to Heaven" 2008

60th Street Elevated Station and Market Street

At street level, look up at the two beams that hold up the El. On the beams, and set at rakish angles, are photographic images of neighborhood history.

Elisabeth Nickles

"Cobbs Creek Constellation" 2011

63rd Street Elevated Station at Market Street

Outside at street level, look up for small steel cutouts of moving figures in bright colors. Inside, ascend the steps and pause midway up for the red, yellow and blue medallion high on the wall, made from more of the metal cutout figures. At the first landing is another medallion-like piece on the wall, with mostly blue figures. n