The construction site at the Downtown Azusa Metro Station will get a new makeover at the beginning of next week. APU art students will commence a service-learning project that will transform the station into a vibrant landmark.
Department of Art and Design Chairman Bill Catling is spearheading student involvement in the project. He expressed his excitement for art students to foster their leadership skills and make a tangible impact on the greater Azusa community.
“To do service in the form of art to me is the best thing possible. … I think it’s reflective of God’s creative nature,” Catling said.
Three of APU’s art classes have teamed up with prominent public artist José Antonio Aguirre, who was selected by Foothill Gold Line to design the art for the Downtown Azusa station. Aguirre will teach project participants how to cut pieces of glass and arrange them within the outlines for the mosaic shapes, he explained in a video interview with Foothill Gold Line. There are 16 mosaic pieces that will be assembled to create the full mural.
In his interview with Foothill Gold Line, Aguirre stressed that he values not only the opinions of the community, but the hands-on artistic decisions that contributors will make.
“Usually, I try to involve kids from 6-year-olds to 90-year-olds, and interestingly enough, you start putting all that together and you get some images or symbols that become part of the artwork,” Aguirre said.
According to the Foothill Gold Line website, Aguirre’s concept for the mural seeks to capture the culture and heritage of the city of Azusa. Titled “A Passage Through Memory,” Aguirre’s mural designs draws inspiration from the basket-weaving techniques of the Native American tribes of the San Gabriel Valley.
APU students will not work alone. The executive director of APU’s Center for Academic Service-Learning and Research, Judy Hutchinson, hopes to involve individuals from many facets of the community.
Hutchinson encouraged APU faculty and staff to contribute to the project and further extended the invitation to several organizations in the larger Azusa community. These included Azusa Parks & Recreation, the Azusa Police Department, the Azusa City Library, the Azusa Unified School District, St. Frances of Rome, Our Neighborhood Homework House, the Chamber of Commerce and the Ministerial Association.
Hutchinson emphasized her belief that the Azusa population will be able to foster a sense of pride and connectedness within the city through community involvement in the project.
“One of the things I’m hoping is that it will give everybody involved in this some little bit of themselves that they are leaving here in the city of Azusa, so they’re now part of the history of the city,” Hutchinson said.