Chandra Cerrito / Art Advisors had the honor of working with the Walnut Creek Transit Village development team to expand the public art program at a beautiful new residential and mixed-use development surrounding the Walnut Creek BART station. In addition to collaborating with the developer and their design team, CC/AA also worked closely with City staff and commissioners to develop an art plan and artwork proposals that would benefit both project occupants and the general public.

Artworks by Aileen Barr and artist team Brad Oldham and Christy Coltrin enliven the site’s outdoor spaces. Barr’s multi-element mosaic artwork (above and right) leads people up a grand stairway at Pringle Avenue, through a “paseo” that meanders between residential buildings, and into a courtyard in which residents and BART riders are able to rest and gather. Brightly colored, intricately textured ceramic tiles, handmade by the artist, create beautiful abstract patterns that mix references to local natural elements and transportation. Threading through the landscape design, the artwork adorns stair treads, benches, tree planters, and gateway columns.

Oldham and Coltrin’s artwork, The Bee Effect, is a delightful landmark at the prominent corner of Pringle and North California Boulevard. Visible from nearby streets, sidewalks, and the BART train, this mirror-polished stainless-steel sculpture features monumental poppy flowers, two pollinating bees, and “sky tubes” through which one is invited to view the sky via openings in the flower petals. The artists imagined this dramatic bouquet resulting from a gust of wind that carried a small poppy seed from Mount Diablo to this corner, where it was nurtured and thrived, a metaphor for the positive impact each of us may have on the world when we share “sparks of goodness.”