New Bus Shelter Sculpture to Highlight Latine Stories in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton
A new bus shelter in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood will soon elevate the stories of Latine community members through art. This project, a collaboration between The Sculpture Center and Chicago-based artist Edra Soto, is part of the organization’s effort to bring meaningful public art to Northeast Ohio.
The project, titled La Distancia (The Distance), will explore themes of displacement, identity, and culture. With funding from a prestigious Joyce Award, The Sculpture Center will work alongside Soto to bring the vision to life. The project will include a sculptural bus shelter and an indoor gallery exhibition set for May and June 2024.
Joyce Award Supports La Distancia Project
The Sculpture Center received a $100,000 Joyce Award to fund La Distancia, a major win for both the artist and the institution. Grace Chin, executive director of The Sculpture Center, emphasized the significance of this recognition.
“It’s a really prestigious award,” said Chin. “At the same time The Joyce Foundation is elevating the artist, they’re also elevating The Sculpture Center. It’s helping us be seen more as a nationally recognized institution.”
Celebrating the Clark-Fulton Community’s Stories
Soto will be working closely with the Clark-Fulton neighborhood over the next several months, gathering photos, stories, and mementos from residents. These personal histories will be incorporated into the bus shelter’s design and featured in a special newsletter, allowing the stories to become part of the public space.
Workshops for residents to share their experiences will begin in October, fostering a deeper connection between the art and the community it represents. Chin sees the project as a chance for Latine residents to feel acknowledged and visible.
“What are their stories? Has anyone asked?” Chin asked. “If you’re sitting at a bus shelter, it’s an opportunity to have a conversation.”
Edra Soto’s Graft Project and La Distancia
Puerto Rican artist Edra Soto has long been exploring themes of migration and identity through her Graft project, which has been showcased in various public art spaces. In La Distancia, Soto will expand this body of work, drawing on her personal experiences as well as the stories of the Clark-Fulton community.
“Along with so many others, mine is a story of moving between various liminal spaces in search of home,” Soto said. “Through this project, I want to enshrine those moments of waiting, of existing in the in-between…by changing the physical architecture of the landscape and unapologetically taking up space.”
Soto will include interactive elements like viewfinders, inviting people to peer into photos and memorabilia that reflect the experiences of Puerto Rican and Latine residents.
An Opportunity for Reflection and Connection
Through La Distancia, the bus shelter will serve as more than just a functional space—it will become a gathering place for conversation and reflection. Soto’s work, inspired by Puerto Rican architecture and community narratives, will provide a literal and figurative space for Latine voices to be heard and seen.
Chin hopes the project will spark conversations about community, identity, and belonging, while helping the Clark-Fulton neighborhood embrace its rich cultural heritage through public art.
