Looking through the glass: Fluid Landscape

The Valley Line Southeast LRT project is adding a splash of colour and texture to communities along the route thanks to the City’s Percent for Art Policy which is managed by the Edmonton Arts Council. 

The Valley Line Southeast LRT project’s public art collection will include 14 different projects, including art glass at five of the eleven stops and at Davies Station, five stop canopy sculptures, one mosaic, one series of paintings, and one inflatable sculpture. Additional opportunities for artists to get involved in Valley Line Public Art are yet to be announced. 

Individual artists, organizations and collectives submitted 260 submissions for the public art opportunities along the 13 km LRT route. Each submission was reviewed by selection committees made up of community members, local artist representatives, project personnel and City of Edmonton staff. The commissions were awarded to four Edmonton-based artists, three Alberta-based artists, one international artist, one Indigenous artist team, and one Métis artist. 

“I have a bright, dynamic approach to public art, to inspire a sense of wonder and beauty in common public spaces” said Shan Shan Sheng, the only international artist selected for the Valley Line Southeast public art collection. Currently based in San Francisco, she has completed more than 50 large-scale public art projects around the world, including the award winning piece Ocean Wave at the Port of Miami. Her works are designed to evoke a sense of wonder, nature and culture. 

Shan Shan Sheng was selected to create an art glass project for Davies Station. Located in an industrial area frequented by freight trains, Davies Station is elevated to prevent any rail right-of-way conflicts for LRT passengers moving through the area. The size and scale of Davies Station made it the most fitting location for a single large-scale piece of public art. Let’s take a closer look.

Located on the north east side of Davies Station, Fluid Landscape was the first and largest of the public artworks from the Valley Line Southeast LRT project to be installed. It spans nearly the full length of the station. ​“Fluid Landscape will become an instant icon, a beacon of light in the urban landscape, offering a blend of color, nature, as a distinctive overlay and frame to the changing seasons of Edmonton, as seen from the transit station,” says Shan Shan Sheng.

From 75 Street, motorists can already see a colourful abstract wave across the glass wall of the station, but up close, passengers will see a blend of Alberta’s diverse landscapes, including the prairies, forests, lakes and mountains throughout the seasons. Fluid Landscape will be illuminated by the natural light that flows through the station by day and by the station lighting at night. 

From inside the station, passengers might even recognize some of the locations that have been blended into the piece. Here’s a sneak peak from inside Davies Station. 

Installation

Worker safety and special care for the glass panels were important for the installation process. The artwork spans 53 panes of glass, which needed to be installed individually by TransEd’s crew, using three lifts in tandem to install each piece. To keep the workers separated they each used their own lift. The glass panel was attached to a third remote controlled lift using suction cups. The suction cups held the glass panel securely in place until the workers could install the permanent hardware.

Check out our time lapse of some of the installation during some of the coldest days of November 2020.