The Artistic Bus Shelter Program is a project organized by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Public Art Commission. The Commission is partnering with WSTA to display the work of local artists to contribute to the appeal of City bus shelters and transit riders' experiences.
Artwork
Vikki Vassar
The Safe Bus Company
Trade Street between 10th and 11th Streets
The Safe Bus Company was originally formed to provide transportation to Winston-Salem's underserved Black neighborhoods. It operated from 1926 to 1972. In the 1920s, segregation reached into nearly every aspect of daily life. Winston-Salem's trolley service, Southern Public Utilities Company, did not operate in largely Black neighborhoods, leaving those residents to a network of some 35 jitney operators for transportation to the city's tobacco factories for work. Jitneys were independently run and competed with each other. Their timetables were not always set, and it was a scattered system.
The Safe Bus Company was formed when 21 of those jitney operators came together to form their own transportation company for the city's Black residents. The name "Safe Bus" was taken from a promise made to Winston-Salem Mayor Thomas Barber to operate a safe and organized bus system. Safe Bus Company eventually employed more than 80 drivers and carried 8,000 passengers a day, earning the distinction of being the largest Black-owned and operated transportation business in the world.
In 1968, after the City of Winston-Salem's contracted bus carrier stopped operating in the city, Safe Bus expanded operations to provide transportation to all city residents. However, covering the entire city, competition from rising automobile ownership, and a majority population not as willing to ride Black-operated buses, led to the end of Safe Bus. In 1972 it became part of the Winston-Salem Transit Authority.
Vikki Vassar is a Winston-Salem-based artist and illustrator. See her work on her website.
Mike Wilson
Hanes Hosiery
Patterson Avenue south of Akron Drive
Hanes: A Pioneer in Women's Sports
Led by NC Sports Hall of Fame Coach Virgil Yow, Hanes Hosiery captured three Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Basketball Championships from 1951 to 1963. Featuring seven All-Americans, the 1953 squad won a record 60 games in a row, establishing Hanes as an early pioneer in support of women's sports.
Art Blevins: All About His "Kids"
"Coach Art" began his 38-year career at the Winston-Salem Recreation and Parks Department in 1978, spending most of his time at the Hanes Hosiery Recreation Center, where he became a legendary figure mentoring countless youngsters throughout his career.
Mike Wilson is a Winston-Salem native whose family owned the local sporting goods business, Bocock-Stroud Co. He enjoys drawing caricatures, pet portraits, and "old school" pen and ink athletic portraits.
Carlos Gustavo
Pilot Mountain
University Parkway at Sturmer Park Circle
Pilot Mountain is one of North Carolina's most distinctive natural features and has been a cultural and folkloric part of the landscape for millennia. Big Pinnacle, its rounded, rocky top, reaches approximately 1,400 feet above the surrounding terrain. The earliest known inhabitants of the Piedmont region, the Saura, Saponi, and Tutelo peoples knew the mountain as "Jomeokee," meaning Great Guide or Pilot.
The mountain served as a guidepost for the early Moravians traveling south on the Great Wagon Road to their new home of Wachovia, now present-day Winston-Salem. An entry in the diary of a Moravian settler in 1753, 37 days into their journey from Pennsylvania, refers to the joy they found in spotting the peak and rejoicing to finally be close to the end of their journey.
For enslaved people escaping north before the Civil War, Pilot Mountain was a guidepost and a sign of relief and hope. In later years, Pilot Mountain was listed in Green Books, travel guides for African Americans to help find safe places to eat and rest during the era of segregation. On the route past Piot Mountain, there was known to be a fresh-water spring that Black travelers could use so they would not need to go into town where they may face harassment.
Pilot Mountain is still a landmark and guidepost for travelers, now driving on US 52. After serving as a commercial tourist attraction, Pilot Mountain became a North Carolina state park in 1968. The park's most popular hiking trail is Jomeokee Trail, which circles the base of Big Pinnacle.
Carlos Gustavo made his first photograph as a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps. He attended Boston University and the International Center for Photography (ICP) in New York City, where he received a BFA in Photography. He has lived in Winston-Salem since 2001.
Phebe Pankey
Simon Green Atkins
Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Rams Drive
Simon Green Atkins (1863-1934) was a Black educator who dedicated his life to improving education for African Americans. He was the founder and first president of Winston-Salem State University (previously the Slater Industrial Academy).
Pankey's artwork depicts Earline King's statue of Atkins on the WSSU campus, as well as the alumni House and the Atkins House. The artwork's style is inspired by American painter Aaron Douglas's use of concentric circles, which are used to show how Atkins' impact rippled through Winston-Salem.
Pankey studied art at Winston-Salem State University and obtained her bachelor's degree in 2019. She has participated in numerous conservation and curatorial internships, including: Duke, Fisk, Yale, and Princeton Universities, Winterthur Delaware Estate, and the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. She is an illustrator and sells prints of her artwork. Find her work on Instagram @Lifeofphebs and Etsy at PhebesOriginals.
Phebe Pankey
Bowen Park Neighborhood
25th Street at Bowen Boulevard
Bowen Park is one of the first neighborhoods made specifically for African Americans after World War II. The silhouettes in the drawing represent the early occupants of Bowen Park Neighborhood. The factory in the background represents the workers of Reynolds Tobacco Company. The woman is pointing to the Winston-Salem State University campus because Slater Academy was once housed in the neighborhood.
Pankey studied art at Winston-Salem State University and obtained her bachelor's degree in 2019. She has participated in numerous conservation and curatorial internships, including: Duke, Fisk, Yale, and Princeton Universities, Winterthur Delaware Estate, and the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. She is an illustrator and sells prints of her artwork. Find her work on Instagram @Lifeofphebs and Etsy at PhebesOriginals.
Jason Lancaster
Winston-Salem Landmarks Through Time
Stratford Road at Westbrook Plaza Drive
Winston-Salem Landmarks Through Time is a composite image showing our city's history from Old Salem to early industrialization to the development of the Innovation Quarter and our arts-centered downtown. The work takes on a sci-fi aesthetic, projecting into the future of the city.
Jason Lancaster is a Winston-Salem based mixed media artist, currently working as a faculty member in the Fine Arts department at Forsyth Technical Community College. Much of Jason's artistic practice centers around playing with concepts and processes, and the belief that art should be approached with a sense of curiosity.
Carolina Corona
Bailarina
Waughtown Street and Broadbay Drive
Bailarina is a cultural statement. Through this piece, the artist wants to share a part of her culture and identity to depict her colorful and meaningful upbringing. The watercolor painting portrays a woman dressed in traditional Mexican folk dance attire, surrounded by colorful flowers, which symbolize culture and fiesta. The colibri, or hummingbird, symbolizes whimsy and freedom of expression. These symbols are representative of the culture in which the artist grew up. As a child, she performed many dances for school functions and celebrations. While living in Veracruz, Mexico, she experienced traditional music, dances, and other performances that embraced her county's history and rich culture.
Carolina Corona is a fine art painter living in North Carolina. She started her art career as an art instructor in the public school system. She is a young art entrepreneur who exhibits in galleries across the state and participates in seasonal art shows and festivals. She ins constantly inspired by nature and her work reflects the beauty of her surroundings. Her work also embraces the concept of freedom through the natural. In addition, her paintings depict images from her travels in detailed and colorful acrylic and watercolor strokes. Find her art at Coronafineart.com or on Instagram or Facebook @coronafineart
Salem Ortiz
Meet Me on the Southside
Waughtown Street and South Main Street
Salem Ortiz's artwork is a love letter to the people, places, and neighborhoods of Winston-Salem's Southside. As an artist, she is driven to help others in their artistic journeys, especially the youth who have not had artistic opportunities provided to them in our community. See her work on Instagram @_new_creationz
Community Design Studio and Carolina Corona
Burst of Primavera
Broad Street north of Salem Avenue
Community Design Studio's mission to empower everyone to be designers is brought to life in this bus shelter piece, a collaboration between designers, a professional artist, and the broader Winston-Salem community. CDS installed three mailboxes in and around the shelter during Forsyth County Creek Week 2022. Signage invited visitors to this shelter and to the adjacent Gateway Nature Preserve to write or draw in response to the question "What do you love about nature?" CDS collected over 50 drawings and writings. The final piece, created by Carolina Corona, owner of Corona Fine Art, was inspired by our community's creative and colorful responses as well as the natural habitats found at the Gateway Nature Preserve.
Leo Rucker
OurColorVibes
University Parkway at DoubleTree
OurColorVibes is a concept of colors and shapes that represent the diversity of our community as a city of the arts along with historical landmarks that attract visitors from around the world who come to enjoy our cultural beauty.
Leo Rucker is a Winston-Salem artist known for his portrait painting. Mentored by artists Richard Hedgecock and Paul Roseboro, he pursued an artistic career in the 1990s, creating drawings and paintings for the Forsyth County Partnership (Smart Start), then Sophisticate’s Black Hair Magazine, where he created portraits for a column called “Role Models Beyond Beauty” for 18 years. The magazine displayed more than 200 of his portraits of accomplished ethnic women from around the world. Rucker’s work can also be seen at the Clark Campbell Transportation Center, where he brought history to life, painting the downtown transit hub’s outdoor columns with portraits of the 22 African-American founders of the Safe Bus Company. See more of Rucker’s work at www.ruckerartstudio.webs.com, @leorucker on Instagram, and https://www.facebook.com/leo.rucker.3
Mike Wilson
“Big House” and Earl “The Pearl”
University Parkway at Coliseum
The influence of sport on social change can be dramatic. The magic of the 1967 Winston-Salem Rams helped dissolve racial divisions during a complicated and tense time in our city's history. For the first time, Black and white fans sat together in a packed Winston-Salem Coliseum cheering for Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, his Winston-Salem State teammates, and his Hall of Fame coach "Big House" Gaines.
Wilson is a Winston-Salem native whose family owned the local sporting goods business, Bocock-Stroud Co. He enjoys drawing caricatures, pet portraits, and "old School" pen and ink athletic portraits.
Phebe Pankey
The Tre Crowned
North Cleveland Ave at 25th Street
This artwork consists of three people who have contributed positively to the community: Joe Watson, the Peanut Man, former Mayor Pro Tempore, Vivian Burke; and, Tony Jordan of Tony's Italian Ice. Many people have stories about these three and can share how they have impacted their lives. This picture is a thank you to these figures.
Pankey studied Art at Winston Salem State University and obtained her bachelor's degree in 2019. She has participated in numerous conservation and curatorial internships which include: Duke, Fisk, Yale, and Princeton Universities, Winterthur Delaware Estate, and the Georgia O'Keefe Museum. She is an illustrator and sells prints of her artwork. Find her work on Instagram @Lifeofphebs and Etsy at PhebesOriginals.
Shelly McMillan
Farmers Market Fruits and Veggies
North Patterson Ave at Northside Shopping Center
The farmers market is one of my favorite places to spend time and money. It's fresh, bright, cheerful and full of hope. I hope you receive a blessing from this painting and your day is a little brighter by just seeing it!
Shelly McMillan has been painting in acrylics for over 20 years. She has painted all over the Southeast in private residences as well as commercial spaces and public art. Her work includes murals, portraiture, landscapes, graphic work, and illustration. She uses bright colors and fresh subjects in her paintings to convey her love of life, nature, and people.
Hosanna Gourley
Women of Winston-Salem
Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at WSSU
Women of Winston-Salem is designed to honor just a few of the women of Winston-Salem who have contributed to our community and made history. Styled after 1950s vintage comics, the piece is meant to portray these pioneers as the superheroes they are while demonstrating how our history continues to impact our city today. To see more stories of amazing women of Winston-Salem or share one of your female hero's stories, check out @womenofwinstonsalem on Instagram!
Hosanna Gourley attended UNCSA and currently resides in Winston-Salem. Her favorite thing about our city is how the community incorporates art into everyday life. Graduating with a BFA with a concentration in Animation, Hosanna's passion is creative and purposeful storytelling through beautiful visuals. Currently freelancing, Hosanna specializes in digital illustration, stop-motion, 2D animation, and graphic design. See more work online at Hosannamations.com or on Instagram @hosannamations.
Terri Coppola
Maya Angelou: Rainbow in the Clouds
Cloverdale Avenue
Terri Coppola sketched her illustration before COVID-19 had us physically distancing, but believes Maya Angelou's words are truer than ever. We still have the ability to be the rainbow to those in our community through our acts of kindness and support of each other.
Coppola is a former graphic artist who now works with her husband and four children at Coppola's Pizzeria in Winston-Salem. In her free time, she also enjoys working on independent art projects and loves to encourage children to use their creativity to express themselves.
Carlos A. Gustavo
Oyster Mushroom, (Pleurotus Ostreatus)
Tobacco Plant, (Nicotiana Solanceae)
Reynolds Park Road at SouthEast Plaza
Carlos Gustavo chose the image of the tobacco plan (Nicotiana Solanaceae) for its intrinsic beauty as a native species and its historic connection to Winston-Salem, for outer windows, he chose another organic form from nature, the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus Ostreatus), which is also native to this region and prolific within all of the environments of North Carolina. He paired them in this form to illustrate a kaleidoscopic and spiraling effect.
Gustavo made his first photograph as a Corporal in the United States Marine Corps. He attended Boston University and the international Center for Photography (ICP) in New York City, where he received a BFA in Photography. He has lived in Winston-Salem since 2001.
Phillip Summers
Marching for Mobility
Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at Waughtown Street
To improve the bus system in Winston-Salem is to 'march with a drum major' like Dr. King towards social justice. When we improve bus service, we bring passengers more social and economic mobility, more freedom, and more peace. Positive experiences - yes, simply waiting at the bus stop - helps us have strong, righteous relationships with our neighbors and environment. Marching for Mobility captures that spirit: improve transit to improve out community.
Phillip Summers and his family moved to Waughtown in 2010 to learn about and live the value of racial reconciliation. He is interested in community development as it relates to public health and economic mobility. He advocates for active transportation and works to translate research into practice. He blogs at www.blindspot.city.
Owens O. Daniels
Catching the A Train
Peters Creek Parkway at Parkland High School
This artwork is part of a larger body of work, "Shooting With My Feet NYC." I was visiting some relatives and wanted to share my experience of being a photographer in New York by photographing everyday events. One such experience was catching the subway and the people who used it as a lifeline to get back and forth in the city.
Z. Smith Reynolds Lead Artist for the Presence Abscence Project and 2019 Duke Energy Grand awardee Owens Daniels is a visual artist/photographer, educator, and the face behind ODP Art+Design; bold, creative, and innovative artwork that builds bridges, promotes cultural exchanges, and artistic endeavors between organizations, institutions, and the diverse communities they serve.
Meagan E. Matejka
Enchanted Forest
Salem Crest Lane
Just on the outskirts of town lies the Enchanted Forest, which is home to a friendly witch who lives in her pumpkin house. Be on the lookout for her around Halloween, because she likes to decorate her home and give treats to all the boys and girls who come to visit her wearing costumes.
Meagan Matejka was born and raised in Winston-Salem. She absolutely loves drawing anime characters as well as painting landscape scenery such as you see here. Matejka says, "I hope everyone that sees this artwork can enjoy it. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to feel right at home and fit right in!"
Community Design Studio (Facilitators Elise Barrella and Lauren Frye, Graphic Design by Katrina Hughes)
Please Add Color/Agregue Color
Country Club Road at Jonestown Road
Spring and summer of 2020 have challenged us to explore new ways to engage our diverse community in placemaking. Our installation is as much about the process of creating public art as it is about the resulting artwork for the bus shelter. Intended as an experiment in socially-distanced enagement, this installation was collaboratibely designed by patrons and passersby of Bus Stop #47615. Community Design Studio (CDS) provided a blank canvas with an invitation for anyone to make their mark, and this is the result.
CDS is a not-for-profit collective of multidisciplinary designers founded in 2011 to deploy design thinking as an inclusive problem-solving approach that can be brought to bear on local challenges. Learn more about our mission and collaborations at communitydesignstudio.org or by following @cds_ws on Instagram or Facebook.
Carolina Corona
Nature's Home
Reynolda Road opposite Oldtown Drive
Nature's Home is an environmental statement highlighting some of the natural treasures of the state of North Carolina. Today the natural world is threatened by pollution, indifference, and destructive policies. I am an active member of multiple environmental organizations that are fighting against these forces in hopes of preserving the natural world for us and future generations. The natural elements included in my piece are representative of some of North Carolina's resources. It will help remind people of how beautiful nature is while at the same time bringing awareness to a world worth preserving.
Carolina Corona is a fine art painter living in Winston-Salem. She started her art career as an art instructor in the public school system. She is a young art entrepreneur who exhibits in galleries across the state and participates in seasonal art shows/festivals. She is constantly inspired by nature and her work reflects the beauty of her surroundings. Find her art at Coronafineart.com or on Instagram or Facebook @coronafineart