MARTA’s Reflection Tunnel Beautifies A Neighborhood And Showcases Its History

Artist Adam Bostic, middle, and artist assistants James Hummeldorf, left, and Brittany Coburn, right, place some of the 20,000 reflectors in “Reflection Tunnel.”

Courtesy of MARTA

This summer, ArtBound, MARTA’s public art program, set King Memorial Station’s Grant Street tunnel dazzlingly, dynamically aglow. The “Reflection Tunnel” project is one of their largest public artworks in Atlanta, a sculptural installation covering the walls of the tunnel with thousands of colorful, luminous road reflector panels, with an interactive storytelling component – the walls are literally embedded with the true stories of real neighborhood community members. ArtBound collaborated with public art strategists at Dashboard, and a local installation team led by artist Adam Bostic to accomplish the beautification of the tunnel. Bostic joined “City Lights” senior producer Kim Drobes along with ArtBound’s Director Katherine Dirga and Dashboard co-founder Courtney Hammond to explain how the project came together, and how it incorporates so much history from the neighborhood it will enrich for years to come.

Hammond works with the Atlanta-headquartered curatorial nonprofit Dashboard to source and engage artists on ambitious community art projects all over the country. “Basically, we had a problem, and they had an answer for us,” said Dirga. “We went to them and said, ‘Hey, this tunnel needs beautification.’”

The tunnel provides a pedestrian walkway from the transit-oriented development underway behind King Memorial Station, also connecting the area to the Sweet Auburn neighborhood and Old Fourth Ward.