A new exhibition at Union Station is open to the public, showcasing the connection between human and wildlife movement throughout the city and the role animals play in keeping a healthy regional ecosystem.
“LA on the Move” was developed by Metro Art in collaboration with ArtCenter College of Design, Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy and Data Vandals. The exhibition features five animals: The coyote, mountain lion, red-tailed hawk, monarch butterfly and California kingsnake, all moving through the city in search of food and shelter.
The idea for the exhibition came after ArtCenter participated in the Getty initiative PST ART: Art & Science Collide, where they explored the intersections of creativity and scientific inquiry. Around the same time, the college built a relationship with Data Vandals, a company that transforms data into artwork, they were later approached by Metro Art about collaborating.
“They felt that it spoke to some of the things that they were also considering for their exhibition program,” said Julie Joyce, vice president of exhibitions and director of ArtCenter Galleries. “We talked to them about doing a project that would be in conjunction with our PST show.”
During this process, the school realized that its Designmatters initiative, which focuses on social justice and ecological issues, could complement the project and incorporated it, including a class called City Animals: Data Visualization for Urban Wildlife Conservation.
ArtCenter students from that class worked with Data Vandals, who used data from the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy to map wildlife movement across Los Angeles. The students’ designs included ideas for apps that show how new buildings in a neighborhood affect local wildlife, as well as one that lets users point their phone at their backyard to identify native plants that support wildlife.
“The premise of their class was how to create ways to bring awareness about urban wildlife to the larger public,” Christina Valentine, curator of exhibitions at ArtCenter Galleries, said.
The exhibition is arranged across five walls, with one featuring artwork and designs from the students and the others displaying work by Data Vandals artist Jen Ray and data expert Jason Forrest. It highlights the growing role of data visualization in both art and science. Ray and Forrest transformed the wildlife migration data into visual stories that show animals’ journeys across the city.
The pair explained that with the amount of foot traffic at Union Station, they wanted people to engage with the exhibition and experience the data in a way that was easy to understand. “We saw a group of young boys all crowded around looking for their houses on the map, and they started saying ‘Oh look there’s more coyotes over here … or more snakes over here …,’” Forrest said. Ray explained that using data as a conversation starter is their way of connecting people.
“LA on the Move” will remain at Union Station for a year, inviting visitors to reflect on the similarities between human and animal movement.
“We wanted people, especially in Union Station … to kind of understand their role and the animals’ roles at the same time,” Ray said. “We wanted people to see themselves in the exhibition — and in some cases, literally through the map that Jason designed.”
LA on the Move
WHERE: Waiting Room Gallery at Union Station, 800 N. Alameda Street, Los Angeles
COST: Free
INFO: art.metro.net