Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - July 25, 2007
Elizabeth Cotner
But riders emerging from the Dupont Circle station may find themselves considering the work of Walt Whitman since Metro unveiled new artwork honoring caregivers of HIV and AIDS victims at the station earlier this month. Whitman's "The Wound-Dresser," a poem about serving wounded Civil War soldiers, is engraved into a circular granite wall outside the station on Connecticut Avenue at Q and 19th streets. Howard University professor E. Ethelbert Miller's poem "We Embrace" will encircle a bench at the station's entrance by the end of July.
The poetry is part of a $112,000 project initiated by D.C. Council Member Jim Graham and run by Metro and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
The poems were meant to honor caregivers of HIV and AIDS victims in the epidemic's early years, said Michael McBride, manager of the art and transit program. McBride, who designed the project, said the words send a message of compassion.
"The poem by Whitman speaks to the compassion one person can have for another during very difficult times," Mc Bride said. "The poem by Ethelbert acknowledges that people came forward not knowing how the illness could impact them, but they still came forward from a place of compassion."
Metro's Art in Transit program began installing art in rail stations in 1995, and 22 works of art have been put in stations since that time. A recent project, unveiled in February 2006, is a 22-foot steel statue at Congress Heights Metro station by artist Anne Allardyce that reflects the "forward-thinking" ideas of the community, McBride said.
"[The art] basically captures the spirit of the community and the people that are served by Metro," McBride said. "It generally reflects the art, culture and historic interest of the community surrounding the stations."
While some Metro riders at the Dupont Circle Station Tuesday said they didn't think commuters would notice the installations, others said they found it inspiring.
"I think having more areas for artists to show their work is beneficial to everyone," said Jeff Ludden, 28, of the Dupont Circle area.
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