Free + Open to the Public

Meet LA artist, Mark Greenfield and time travel with us to LA’s original Chinatown. We’ll visit two destinations, the Historic Broadway Regional Connector Station and the Union Station Waiting Room Gallery.

You can meet up with us at either of two locations depending on which is more convenient for you. We’ll be starting our adventure at the 18th Street Arts Center hearth at 10:00 AM or you can join up with us at the Historic Broadway Regional Connector Station at 11:30 AM when we arrive downtown.

Option 1: 10:00 – 18th Street Arts Center (1639 18th St, Santa Monica, CA 90404)
Meet in the hearth, walk to the Metro E and enjoy the ride across town to Downtown LA.

Option 2: 11:30 – Historic Broadway Regional Connector Station (202 South Broadway Los Angeles, CA 90012)

At 11:30 AM, we will join Artist, Mark Greenfield, at the LA Metro Historic Broadway Regional Connector Station to see his 148’ site-specific glass mural, “Red Car Requiem.” An homage to LA’s long-gone, county-wide, electric streetcars are part and parcel of southern California’s geo-political land grabs, known as “the red cars,” their routes defined our neighborhoods and who lived in them during the street car’s 1901-1961 run. Made up of over 1 million hand-cut pieces of glass, the mural took over six years to fabricate.

At 12:15 PM, we will explore the self-guided tour of the “Where You Stand” installation that shares the loss of Southern California’s original Chinatown, one of early victims of the wholesale displacement of communities of color that took place in Chavez Ravine, Santa Monica, across the southland and throughout the centuries in the name of progress. Where You Stand: Chinatown 1880 to 1939 spans the decades through augmented reality (bring your headphones/ear buds!) to hear oral histories and see artifacts superimposed onto locations around Union Station.

Be sure to check the QR code https://storymaps.arcgis.com/collections/1e5f963472f4400da19fcb0e3ccfdd5e to prepare for the augmented reality experience.

This temporary exhibition is part of a wider collaboration among Metro Art, The Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, USC Cinema, and the Huntington Library. Cultural mapping done by 18th SAC and these institutions helps us to look beyond the moment in which we stand and see those who might have come before us.

Departure time TBD by participants. We suggest approximately 30 minutes to explore the installation and Union Station. There are many restaurants within walking distance. Ask our staff if you’d like recommendations!