The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) is seeking artists to contribute public art works at Phase 2 Silver Line Metro stations.
Metro's Art in Transit Program, funded by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), will place works at six future Silver Line stations. The art will promote transit use, enhance travel by Metro, and highlight the cultural vitality of the National Capital region, according to materials from Metro.
MWAA is managing the design and construction of the Silver Line Project, the Metro extension that is set to begin operating at the end of 2013. Phase 1 of Silver Line will run from Tysons Corner to Reston's Wiehle Avenue. Phase 2, which does not yet have a construction start date, will run from Wiehle to Washington Dulles International Airport and west to Loudoun County.
Artists have already been commissioned for Phase 1 stations.
Phase 2 will have Fairfax County stations at Reston Parkway, Herndon, and Innovation Center, as well as the three stations in Loudoun County: Dulles Airport, Route 606, and Route 772.
Deadline for submissions is Feb. 15.
For more details on submissions, including a timeline for selections, click here
"The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) Art in Transit Program is seeking artists to create site-specific artwork, funded by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Airports Authority)" That is probably an error, this "art" is likely being funded by Phase 2 of the Rail Project, which is 62% toll-funded. "The maximum budget for the art project for each station is $250,000 (artist fee included)." So $1.5 million for this artwork, 62% funded by tolls, means $930,000 in up-front costs funded by tolls. Figure in MWAA's 6.07% interest rate on the toll-backed bonds so far, and it's close to $3 million dollars of our toll money scheduled to be wasted on this "art". At the current $2.75/trip toll rate, that's over a million (1,090,909 to be exact) trips-worth of tolls. Seriously?!?! They're worried about "Public Art" when they won't even have a maintenance yard or new rail cars ready for the line when it's supposed to open? WMATA and MWAA have no concept of how much resentment they are building in this community as they pillage us with their insane tolls for this White Elephant project.
1) Fairfield's Metro station can accommodate 12-car trains (ours can only accommodate 8-car trains), 2) Fairfield's Metro station is the more expensive 'dual side-platform' design (ours are the less costly 'island platform' design), 3) Fairfield's Metro station has full-length canopies on both of their twelve-car platforms (ours have a half-length canopies on our single 8-car platforms), YET THE FAIRFIELD METRO STATION COSTS LESS THAN HALF OF WHAT OUR DULLES-RAIL / SILVER LINE METRO STATIONS COST. Can anyone explain that? There are other examples of double pricing, too - see http://www.bruhns.us/civic/DullesRail/Dulles-Rail---Silver-Line-overcost-report---Bruhns.pdf People, when are you going to wake up? We are being routinely double-charged for our Metrorail system, and WMATA just informed us that they need $26 Billion (SURPRISE!!!) to upgrade the Metrorail system. Our 'leaders' are letting transit agencies double-charge us! We already can not afford the $5.6 Billion the Dulles Rail / Silver Line system costs (BEFORE finance charges) - and now here comes WMATA, looking for another $26 Billion. That's $26 Billion NOW - one has to wonder how much that $26 billion number will expand, before their game is finished.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/metro-proposes-26-billion-overhaul/2013/01/23/fa31fdd4-658a-11e2-b84d-21c7b65985ee_story.html
MWAA says to Toll Road users/ peasants "Let them view art" I'm surprised they didn't just hire the kids of some MWAA employees to do some crayon art and pay them $ millions. I guess that is because now we have a new and improved MWAA that gives everyone a share of their wasteful spending. Leadership FAILURE, heads should roll! Solution---VDOT: Retake the Dulles Toll Road http://notollincrease.blogspot.com/2012/08/mwaa-there-is-better-way.html
Directed at Mr. LaRock, of LaRock Home Builders of Hamilton
FYI, I have spent thousands of hours laboring to unskew the seemingly endless flow of pro-train propaganda. All of it trying to invent benefit and disguise that Dulles Rail is an economic stimulus/ spendfest that redistributes precious resources and yields little if anything to the taxpayers. Compensation for speaking out...$00.00 Thanks for plugging my business though, next time please link folks to our website.