Contact: Cherie Yurco;
cmyurco@dcccd.edu
For immediate release — April 26, 2021
DALLAS — While many people are excited about the new Hidden Ridge DART station that opened April 12, none are likely as thrilled as artist Marty Ray. She was contracted as the station artist back in 2009 and has waited 12 years to see her designs come to fruition.
“Since the beginning of DART’s Rail System, each station has included an Art and Design Program consisting of local station artists and committee members,” said Carlos Huerta, DART community engagement representative. “DART would like each rail station to become part of the community by using local artists, like Marty Ray, to tell local stories and reflections through station artwork.”
Ray was teaching ceramics and sculpture at North Lake College (now Dallas College North Lake Campus) when she got a call from the artist in charge of the Orange Line stations. She had her doubts about taking on the project.
These types of public artwork are usually done by artists accustomed to creating large sculptures, Ray explained. The DART representative offered her the choice of the North Lake or Carpenter Ranch stations. She chose the latter. (Another North Lake art instructor, Chris Fulmer, who retired in 2013, was the North Lake station artist.)
“For two of our North Lake art faculty to be selected to design station artwork was a big deal,” said North Lake Campus President Christa Slejko. “It is exciting that North Lake is tied to the next step of developing transportation opportunities for Irving and Dallas County.”
It’s a mutually beneficial relationship that serves residents and students alike.
“DART and Dallas College both deliver options that enhance opportunity,” said Nevin Grinnell, DART’s chief marketing officer. “Education and transportation are critical ingredients of success, and our special relationship helps area residents check both off the list.”
Station Site Steeped in History
Ray thought the ranch would be a fun subject. “I love history. When I was first driving to North Lake, I would pass by and I knew the Carpenters lived on the property. I could see a pond, a house, lots of trees, cows and a wonderful fence,” recalled Ray, who began working at the campus in 1978.
Her research to create seven photo collage windscreens began immediately. She conducted interviews with Carpenter family members, historians and even a former ranch foreman. She read books and articles and pored through the family scrapbook.
“There were family photos, notes and letters, and I was given permission to use whatever was needed,” she said. Another North Lake employee, Michael Marian, helped her photograph the fence and create large digital files to tell the history of the ranch.
In 1928, John W. Carpenter purchased just over 200 acres, but the family’s land eventually grew to a sprawling 6,000 acres. In the 1960s, it was called “El Ranchito de Las Colinas.” The area still carries the name Las Colinas today.
John’s son, developer Ben Carpenter, and his wife, Betty, built a home on the highest hill where they raised five children and remained until 1997. Ben first unveiled a plan for transforming the family ranch into a development back in 1973.
By the time Ray was commissioned to create the station’s artwork, all that remained of the ranch was the fence, gate and a few remnants of the buildings.
“I tried to preserve small parts of the ranch and Carpenter family story through design elements of the station,” said Ray. Artists for each of the six Orange Line stations — expected to open within months of each other — met with community committees to get feedback on their designs.
Artwork Put on Hold
Then, Ray was disappointed to learn that, due to a delay in development of the Carpenter Ranch land, the building of that station had been put on hold. All of the other stations opened, but almost 10 years passed before that development, now called Hidden Ridge, began.
While the wind screens had been completed and stored, work on the other large part of Ray’s design — 12 stone columns — began in spring 2020, just as the world went into lockdown. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I hope I can pull this off,’” she said. “I had never done a large 3D relief, and I had never used that type of clay before.”
She created outline drawings and had them printed to size. She then traced the drawings onto the clay and began to carve up and down to create casts. When completed, the two panels were cast in a white stone Ray had selected.
“The first panel highlights nature and animals of the creek and ranch; the other shows a cattle herd and ranchmen, rolling hills and the creek,” said Ray. “Both reveal the modern buildings of Las Colinas at the top, in the distance.” Natural stone cladding and Texas pink granite decorating the columns reflect materials used in the Carpenter home and the Las Colinas development.
“Every aspect of the station that I selected was inspired by the place and history of the station site,” she said. She matched the soft, golden tan of native grass for the station color. The pavement under the columns has three brick colors in two curved lines for the rolling hills of Las Colinas.
Once her artwork was in place, Ray donned a hard hat and reflective vest and was escorted to the site to inspect the installation. She was pleased with the result.
While Ray retired from North Lake in 2017 to become a full-time artist, she has fond memories of teaching ceramics.
“I had young students working toward degrees who were taking it as an elective and middle-aged students and older seniors taking it for fun. They sat side by side, and age disappeared in that room,” she said.
“Marty was one of those people who touched every facet of campus life. She invested her whole self in North Lake, the students and our community — leading the student art club, sponsoring the annual student art sale and coordinating our annual purchase of student art,” recalled Dr. Slejko. “She continues to be a strong presence in the Dallas art community and helps fundraise for local art initiatives and to support local artists.”
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