Completed Projects

​Ruth Ava Lyons & Paul Sires

Charlotte, NC

Welcome to Nodaland

Station color, smalti glass mosaic, granite bench, laminated windscreen glass, passenger canopy columns

​​​​2018

​Ruth Ava Lyons & Paul Sires Charlotte, NC  Welcome to Nodaland

The red chosen by artists Ruth Ava Lyons and Paul Sires is intentionally unique to NoDa and the 36th Street station.  It signifies the residents' passion for their neighborhood and a creative spirit that uniquely sets it apart.  Early on, both artists requested that all the vertical metal elements be painted red, including the large bridge beams supporting the elevated platform, the canopy steel and roofs, fencing, and light poles. They also made bold color choices for the painting of the metal portions of each standard bench and for the metal column cladding at each passenger shelters on the platform.  

​Ruth Ava Lyons & Paul Sires Charlotte, NC  Welcome to Nodaland





​Ruth Ava Lyons & Paul Sires Charlotte, NC  Welcome to Nodaland

Approaching the station platform, riders are welcomed by Ruth Ava Lyons' large mosaic NoDa Lotus and Paul Sires' band of colorful dark and light square mosaics depicting recognizable NoDa imagery. The Lotus specifically is a universal symbol for renewal and growth. The mosaics borrow compositions and colors from Lyons' paintings and Sires sculptures. ​

 The glass windscreens are divided between these partners.  Lyons imagery and color are recognizable in her art glass alongside Sires blue and white art glass in the center canopy.  A Sires' carved granite bench is installed at ground level near the 36th St bus stop.   

​Ruth Ava Lyons & Paul Sires Charlotte, NC  Welcome to Nodaland

​Ruth Ava Lyons & Paul Sires Charlotte, NC  Welcome to Nodaland 

The artists celebrate the diverse and eclectic nature of this art district on North Davidson, known as NoDa, in which they played a lead role in creating over time.  Their message is that many parts must work together to make a beautiful whole.​

 
 
noda is not like any place anywhere it
makes me think of this quote by henry
david thoreau where he says it's not
what you're looking at that matters it's
what you see
public art within the public
transportation system has this great
impact because people are gathering
together our involvement with the
project covers a couple of different
areas the concept involves a lot of our
own subjective poetic interpretation of
the area because we've been here for
over 30 years we have the small T mosaic
being hand-cut small T which is a
material that historically has been used
in some of the most amazing ancient
buildings and then we have the
windscreens there's one that Paul design
in there too that I design and the
station itself the kind of the shelters
one of the things that we really wanted
to bring to the station in terms of
concept was the idea of color we chose a
bright red as our station color and
because we wanted to signify that our
neighborhood is different than any other
place of City Roots work is is more I
think intuitive and more colorful and it
embraces a kind of a different dialogue
my work pretty much focuses on
environmental issues so I really wanted
to bring some organic natural elements
into the hard surface of the station and
really soften it up a little bit i would
say that mine is probably more masculine
and more of a technical approach to
things and then we also for myself have
a granite bench that i'm working on as
well working in granted is a is a
terrible thing for anybody to
it's it's very hard it's very durable
it's a very grueling process the
material is from North Carolina it's
it's called Mount Airy white one of the
things that everybody's excited about is
you know the light rail opening the
anticipation for that public
transportation also can play a really
strong role in educating the public
about the arts so it's a it's a good
jumping-off point for people to be
exposed
you


Artist Bios

Ruth Ava Lyons and Paul Sires have created art throughout the southeast both together and independently. Ruth Ava Lyons’ paintings are in the collections of numerous corporations and museums including the metropolitan Museum of Art, Bank of America, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. Paul Sires has designed and fabricated public art for the federal reserve bank of Richmond, VA, the Morgan Square Revitalization in Spartanburg, SC, and the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, among others. Ruth Ava Lyons and Paul Sires earned their MFAs from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and their BFAs, Cum Laude, from Kent State University in Ohio.