K Line: Art Tour

May 10, 2025

10am -1pm

Los Angeles has long blurred the lines between transportation and transformation. The city’s Metro system doesn’t just move people—it tells stories. Nowhere is that more evident than along the K Line, one of the newer lines in LA’s light rail network, which weaves through historically rich neighborhoods like Leimert Park, Inglewood, and Crenshaw.

What sets the K Line apart isn’t just its route—it’s the art. Metro commissioned artists to create site-specific works for its stations, each responding to the cultural, historical, and emotional landscape of the communities the train connects.

So hop on board with the L.A. Forum—we’re taking a tour of the K Line through the eyes of five visionary artists who will be meeting us at their stations to talk about their work.

These artists—Jaime Scholnick, Rebeca Méndez, Shinique Smith, Kim Schoenstadt, and Kenturah Davis—don’t just enhance the stations; they illuminate them.

Their work reminds us that art doesn’t belong only in museums or galleries. It belongs in the spaces where we wait, walk, and wander.

When: Join us Saturday May 10, 2025 at 10am starting at the Expo/Crenshaw station.

Cost: Free!

TAP cards will be provided for the first 40 people to arrive. They’re refillable so keep them and reload them to use Metro!

Route:

Stop 1: Expo/Crenshaw Station

At the Same Time & CircumSolar, Migration 4

Artist: Rebeca Méndez

Rebeca Méndez’s two mosaic murals transform the concourse wall into a sublime panorama of the sky as seen from Los Angeles. Articulating the progression of time over 24 hours, vertical segments portraying the stars and the moon flank an ethereal cloud-scattered azure.

Layered Histories

Artist: Jaime Scholnick

Jaime Scholnick’s frieze-like collages are based on hundreds of studies and more than 11,800 photographs of the surrounding neighborhood. Progressing from dawn to night, the artist spent many hours documenting the area around the station and talking to local residents about their visions for the artwork.

Stop 2: Martin Luther King

Only Light, Only Love

Artist: Shinique Smith

Shinique Smith’s mosaic mural playfully visualizes the cultural richness of South Los Angeles by collaging elements pulled from fashion, pop culture and calligraphy. Honoring the station’s namesake, the artwork also includes a selection of empowering words inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches and autobiography.

Stop 3: Fairview Heights

Inglewood CA Series: Metro collection 1–10

Artist: Kim Schoenstadt

Kim Schoenstadt’s murals portray hybrid structures based on existing and historical buildings from the surrounding Inglewood neighborhood, including the Broadway Federal Bank, Centinela Adobe, Crozier Middle School, Jet Car Wash, Los Angeles International Airport Theme Building and Randy’s Donuts, to name a few.

Stop 4: Inglewood Station

Sonder

Artist: Kenturah Davis

The 10 panels present a horizon of images of the Inglewood community, rendered by stamping a text about encountering strangers. The title “Sonder” emerged from the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which is a testament to how we make meaning of our lives, inventing new words to describe our experience of reality. Although the text that makes up the drawings are layered to the point that it exceeds legibility, the images embody how we can embrace the transitory experiences we have in public spaces.

Stop 5: Leimert Park

When we’re done exploring the K Line, we plan to stop at Leimert Park Station for lunch. Just steps from the platform, you'll find yourself in the heart of one of LA's most vibrant cultural hubs. Grab a plate of jerk chicken or vegan soul food, browse local bookstores and art shops, or catch a drum circle in the plaza. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a longtime resident, Leimert Park offers a warm, creative energy that makes it the perfect midday stop—and a reminder of the community spirit that fuels the K Line.

K LINE ART TOUR

By The Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design

K LINE ART TOUR