Press Release: Public Art Unveiling

NEWS RELEASE
September 30, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vallejo, CA (September 2021) Solano County Transit (SolTrans) is pleased to announce the unveiling of their Public Art Installment at the Vallejo Transit Center. A short ceremony will take place on Thursday, September 30, 2021, at 2 p.m. at the Vallejo Transit Center at 311 Sacramento St. Vallejo. The artists and staff involved in the process will be present to discuss their pieces and celebrate the unveiling.  

Event host Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell said,  “The art that we will unveil today will continue to beautify downtown Vallejo for years to come and will be the first of many public art collaborations that SolTrans is a part of. SolTrans and the City of Vallejo are looking forward to a partnership to continue creating a welcoming and beautiful environment in downtown Vallejo.”

The installment includes sculptures, benches, mosaic tiles, and paintings that were designed and fabricated by local artists from Vallejo. This project came about with the help of Solano Transportation Authority (STA, the regional public transit authority and project funding partner), SolTrans, and Vallejo Community Arts Foundation Board Member Tom Arie Donch, with the goal to commission pieces by local artists that also represented the diversity of Vallejo.

Through this program, Tom mentored six local artists. He worked with Community Built Association, to create an entire process that not only trained the artists on the many skills needed to create these types of pieces but also remunerate them so they could afford to invest their time in the process to learn those skills. For individual artist bios and photos of their work visit The Public Art Installment at the Vallejo Transit Center page.

To frame and showcase the new art, SolTrans also remodeled the garden surrounding the art pieces. Riders and members of the public can now enjoy the art surrounded by many California native plants that attract pollinators such as bees, monarch butterflies, and hummingbirds. The new plants help in the conservation of water by being drought resistant. The art installment not only adds to the beauty of the transit center but is a great addition to all the fantastic art in the Vallejo Downtown area, the new pieces will join the 2^nd Friday Vallejo Art Walk going forward.

Solano County Transit (SolTrans) has been the public transportation provider for south Solano County since July 2011. SolTrans provides local and SolanoExpress fixed routes, complementary paratransit, and subsidized Lyft programs. The agency is a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) that is governed by a six-member Board of Directors, composed of two representatives from the cities of Benicia and Vallejo, Solano County’s representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), and a representative from the Solano Transportation Authority.

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