Historically, the Raymond Avenue area has been a hub of industrial and commercial activity with various modes of transporting goods, products and people. The artwork at this station, Westgate Station and Union Depot Station represent that history through carved wheels of the vehicles that helped create St. Paul. Raymond Avenue Station has two carved granite wheels. On the westbound platform is a truck wheel and on the eastbound platform is a wagon wheel. Above each of these wheels is a stainless-steel fence cut with images of historic tools and hardware used in this area. On the walls of the utility rooms are relief sculpted panels of many various wheels of vehicles that had most likely frequented this neighborhood over the years.
Standard Stone Co. service truck circa 1940
Ox cart
Andrea Myklebust and Stanton Sears are a husband-and-wife team that has worked collaboratively since 1993 and have created more than 70 large-scale public art projects for sites across the United States. They have many pieces throughout the Twin Cities area, including popular mosaics at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport.
Myklebust and Sears create context-driven sculptural works which are made meaningful by reflecting the natural and cultural histories of their sites. They use many materials including stone, metal, and terrazzo with many of their pieces incorporating lighting elements.
myklebustsears.com
Here are photos of the installation of one of the wheel sculptures.
