200-FOOT MURAL UNVEILED AT MASSACHUSETTS AVE TROLLEY STATION

By Elijah McKee

February 5, 2022 (Lemon Grove) — “It always feels good to have people ask questions and comment on what I am creating,” says artist Maxx Moses on his personal website. “Most of the time they ask me ‘What is the meaning behind the concept?’ And my response is always…what do you see?”

Moses — who has transformed urban spaces around the world, including multiple times in San Diego previously — recently completed his latest work at the Orange Line Massachusetts Avenue Transit Station in Lemon Grove. 

The striking and calming mural was unveiled to the public Friday morning by Sharon Cooney, Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Chief Executive Officer, plus San Diego District Four representative Monica Montgomery-Steppe and Moses himself. 

Titled “The Cosmic Level” and a part of the “Color the Corridors” public art project, it is the first of three to be completed by Moses in the next six months along the Orange Line. The next stations in the sights of his spray canisters will be the Euclid Avenue station, which is already underway, and the 47th Street station, which is currently still a blank gray. 

To Moses, who is also an art teacher, this work is doubly about creating a “visual adventure” as a “concrete alchemist,” and about supporting “the safety, enthusiasm, and economic growth of underserved communities.”

His first success painting San Diego Trolley stops was at the 62nd and Encanto station, just one stop over from the new mural. The success and community impact of this co-commission with artists Miguel Godoy and Todd Stands laid the foundation for Moses to propose more murals to MTS. 

On the newest mural’s first day, daily commuters commented on its beauty while they waited for their transportation to arrive. 

“It’s something different,” said one rider. “It’s dope!” said another.

At the 47th Street station, an anonymous young rider looked forward to the shapes and colors soon to splash the concrete wall across from him. He envisioned the inspiration, support, and surprise a mural could bring to people waiting at the station.

“We’re in the hood, so we got to have something good,” he remarked.

Despite the difficulties of getting around without a car in San Diego County, Moses is doing what he can, with the help of MTS, to support the trolley and the communities that rely on the service. 

Commuters will be the first to notice the next two murals when they are completed later this year. In the meantime, viewers can read more about Maxx Moses’s life and work here and watch his Ted Talk here.