Completed Projects

​​Sharon Dowell

​Charlotte, NC

A City of Optimists

Mosaics, painted railing and benches, laminated windscreen glass, passenger shelter columns

2018

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​​Sharon Dowell ​Charlotte, NC A City of Optimists


Sharon Dowell found the early state of the future station location along Brevard Street invigorating; an isolated plot in proximity to a large rail yard and various industrial properties, juxtaposed with the growing development of the nearby NoDA art district. Her art interprets the vibrancy of a developing city.

Dowell, a painter with a distinct color palette, used mandarin, kiwi, teal, and gray mosaic tiles, each 2" square, to embellish 400 running feet of wall along the switchback ramps and stairs leading up to the raised station platform.  Five mosaics are on the south ramp and five on the north ramp – mirroring each other. The sizes range from 7 foot square to 13' by 21'.  The two smallest mosaics are one and a half feet wide and six feet high.  Dowell carefully planned where the ramp walls would be punctuated by her mosaics.  Three colors extend upward onto sections of standard fencing above her mosaics, engaging riders as they approach the platform.  ​


​​​Sharon Dowell ​Charlotte, NC A City of Optimists

​​​​Sharon Dowell ​Charlotte, NC A City of Optimists

The metal portion of each standard bench is also painted with vibrant hues to connect the platform art to the wall art and continue her color theme for the whole station.  In the glass windscreens, Dowell produced silhouettes of Charlotte area residents in black, pink, and orange.  Her black and white metal cladding on the canopy columns continue Dowell's recognizable abstract patterns derived from architecture and construction.   

​​Sharon Dowell ​Charlotte, NC A City of Optimists 


  
​​Artist Bio
Artist Sharon Dowell earned her BFA in painting, Cum Laude from the University of NC at Charlotte and her MA in Arts Administration from Winthrop University.  Her work can be found in the corporate collections in and around Charlotte. Her work has been featured in group and solo exhibitions in Charlotte, Seattle, Phoenix, Atlanta and New York City. She has been the recipient of artist residencies nationally and internationally. In addition to her studio work, Dowell has also been commissioned by multiple local agencies and some national to create temporary and permanent public artworks, adding to her already extensive list of exhibitions across the country.​