Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority

About the Artist

Cha-Rie Tang is an exciting local artist who has created commissioned artwork for Pasadena's Art Bus, World Port in Los Angeles, and the California Culinary Institute, among others. Her experience is focused on the use of tiles combining her artistic and architectural training to form exquisite compositions that create a sense of movement in nature.

Cha-Rie received her B.S. in Art & Design from MIT and her Masters in Architecture from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She has also attended the University of Washington at Seattle and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Cha-Rie was nominated for the 1996 Computerworld/Smithsonian Award for excellence in incorporating technology and culture for her work as principal on the Direct Imagination team that published the Grammar of Ornament CDROM.

Cha-Rie was selected by the city of Monrovia’s Station Design & Art Review (SDAR) Committee, later ratified by the city council, in 2005. In 2005-6, she worked with the SDAR Committee and Monrovia community to advance her design and art concept for the station, and in December 2006 the city council approved the final art concept.*

Above, sample platform tiles for future Monrovia station

Artist Concept

Cha-Rie Tang will celebrate the coming together of Monrovia's architectural heritage with its naturally beautiful setting in River of Time. Incorporating a treasure trove of historical tiles and remnants of glass and rock, the artist creates a mountain and stream, reflecting Monrovia's designation as the "Gem City of the Foothills."

The seven foot tall mountain is sculptural rock and boulders, carved by nature over the millennia. Running water is a stream of glass, leading from mountain to river, which is composed of recognizable local and historical tiles.

Ms. Tang's desire to work directly with the community on this concept will bring together an appreciation of both human history and respect for nature.

*The Construction Authority would like to thank the following members of the Monrovia SDAR Committee for their participation in the selection process: Mr. Bill Beebe; The Honorable Joe Garcia; Mr. Tito Haes; Ms. Vicki Novell; The Honorable Becky Shevilin; and Mr. Coulter Winn.