CHATSWORTH : Artist Selected for Metrolink Project

Venice artist John Okulick has been selected to construct a $40,000 public art project for the Chatsworth Metrolink train station.

Okulick was chosen from a field of about 60 artists who submitted proposals for the station, to be built on Devonshire Street in Chatsworth. His proposal, a 15-foot-high steel arch depicting mountains and machinery gears, will be installed on the station’s platform.

Okulick, whose metal and wood wall constructions adorn such Downtown L. A. landmarks as the lobby of the O’Melveny & Myers building at 400 South Hope St., said the arch would be “very linear, very clean.”

The arch will be narrow, about 12 feet across, with a peaked roof. Painted designs of water, farmland, mountains and trees will adorn the gable, along with the name Chatsworth and the date 1888, which marks the year Chatsworth was established.

A citizens committee charged with selecting artwork for the station had asked that artists submit proposals that spotlight local culture, history, industry or ethnic diversity in the region.

Jessica Cusick, director of art programs for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said Okulick’s design was the unanimous first choice of the committee.

Okulick said Friday that he plans to begin work on the arch, which will take about a month to build, in January.

Okulick described the design of the arch as a sort of aerial map of Chatsworth. He said an arch or gateway is appropriate for Chatsworth because the area serves as the gateway between the Santa Susana Mountains and Los Angeles.

By law, the MTA must set aside a portion of construction costs for new buildings for public art. The $1.3-million child-care center and train station that will eventually accompany Okulick’s arch are still in the planning stages.