| About the MTA Triptych The request was to create a mural for the new training and education facility of the Mass Transit Authority in Grand Blanc, Mich. Image content was to reflect family, transportation, education and training...elements of the MTA mission. I chose the three basic shapes: triangle, square and circle. Each has a base length of 48 inches and was constructed from hardwood panels. |
| Triangle Images in The Triangle represent education: a microscope, ruler, text book, slide rule, computer monitor and keyboard, and the facade of the administration building at Kettering University. The tube of the microscope is made from 3-inch PVC pipe and is a 3-D extension of the 2-D work. |
| Square Images in The Square represent transportation: an MTA bus, a product from General Motors which has had a major presence in Flint, a shoe, a section of roadway, the "T" from the MTA logo, and airfoil elements from the logo of Bishop International Airport. The airfoil shapes stand off the painting about 2 inches, help aloft by spacers made from copper tubing. The wheels on the bus are rubber gaskets; the hubs are large metal washers. |
| Circle Images in The Circle represent family and the value of education. The globe -- a standard teaching tool -- was created by cutting out a circular section from a map of the Flint area and superimposing a cutout of the Western Hemisphere from door screening. The large red apple recalls the expressions: "A is for Apple" and "apple for the teacher." The glass is half full or half empty, a question that prompts scholarly discussion. Supporting the images of an ethnically mixed "family" is a basic composition notebook. The spoon drips out education which is good medicine, and the crystal ball portends a better future though education. Underlying these pictorials is a triangular shape to united the previous work and route map lines from an MTA bus schedule. |