Chapel Hill Bus Shelter Design
Location: Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard at IFC Community House (Chapel Hill, 27516)
This bus shelter project began as part of an open call from Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture. The Art + Transit program aims to bring more vibrancy to the daily commute by enlivening unsuspecting spaces. Since 2018, Art + Transit has commissioned Triangle-based artists to create Transit-related art around Chapel Hill and Carrboro.
What drew me to this opportunity was the challenge of turning everyday infrastructure into a moment of discovery: using bold geometric abstraction, color blocking, and site-inspired imagery to reimagine a functional bus shelter as a visual reminder of local transit systems, local community, and our connection to the surrounding landmarks in our city.
Perfectly aligned with my larger public art practice, this project embraces the opportunity to activate overlooked civic surfaces and creating artwork that invites people to slow down, notice their environment, and engage more deeply with the systems that shape daily life.
“What Connects Us?”
BUS SHELTER DESIGN CONCEPT:
“What Connects Us?” explores the visible and invisible networks that shape our experience of place. Drawing inspiration from Chapel Hill's roadways, transit routes, native landscapes, and patterns of growth, the composition weaves together geometric pathways and organic forms to illustrate the many ways people, nature, and infrastructure are interconnected. Routes intersect, branch, and converge, suggesting that every journey, whether by foot, bus, bicycle, or memory, becomes part of a larger shared system. Rather than offering a single answer, the work invites viewers to reflect on the relationships, places, and experiences that connect us to one another and to the community we call home.
Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture
Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture is a division of the Town of Chapel Hill dedicated to inspiring creativity and strengthening community through public art, festivals, artist opportunities, and accessible cultural experiences. Their work brings together local artists, residents, and visitors through installations, events, and civic art initiatives that celebrate local voices while activating shared public spaces. With a mission centered on imagination, connection, and community pride, the organization plays a vital role in shaping Chapel Hill’s cultural identity through art in everyday life.
Learn more about Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture.