LA Metro Red Line Tour - NoHo Station

Street-level entrance to the NoHo Station

Did you know that you can take free tours of the Metro rail system?  Led by trained Metro Art Docent Council volunteers, the first Saturday tour starts at the North Hollywood station and tour the Red Line.  On the first Sunday of the month, a tour starts at Union Station and continues on from there.  There's a separate tour monthly in Spanish, and also a specific tour that covers Union Station art and architecture in depth. 

I did the first Saturday tour, which covered four stations:   NoHo, Universal, Hollywood & Vine, and Union Stations.  Each station had a distinct character and theme.  Because I took so many photos, I'll cover each station in a separate post. 

Mosaics as you take the escalator down into the NoHo Station

I live just a few blocks from the NoHo station, so I was excited to learn more about a landmark right in my own backyard.  I've never taken the Metro so the whole experience was new to me.  After paying three dollars for all-day parking, I met the tour guide with the group at the top of the metro entrance on ground level.  Our tour guide laid out a few ground rules, handed out free TAP cards that were pre-loaded with day passes, and we were off.  It was a warm day but the subterranean Metro was cool and comfortable. 

Local businesses "Lankershim Arts" and "Actors Alley"

The tour focused on the artwork within the stations.  We took the Metro from place to place as a group, which was a good exercise on how to use the transit station and gave us time to rest in between taking in the tour, but the tour guide was not giving information during the ride. 

The NoHo, or North Hollywood, Station is themed in what I would call "old (San Fernando) Valley."  The Valley used to be covered in citrus groves in the 1950s and beyond, and so the colors of the NoHo Station are lemon yellow, bright lime green, and orange.  This extends to the covering of the station on street level.  In the main lobby of the station there's a skylight with rings of citrus colors. 

My traveling companion for the day, Caitie, and I, at the first mosaic

Main lobby/gateway NoHo Station

The skylight at the NoHo Station

"Nudie's Rodeo Tailors" was a Valley tailor who did all of the old studio Westerns costuming.  The mosaic dedicated to Nudie's is quintessentially San Fernando Valley.

Palm trees, ranch homes, old Ford, and Valley views

Homage to 1958 El Camino

Phil's Diner, the old railcar restaurant that was right outside the Metro station

Pacific Electric

Patio Brand citrus

One of the neatest mosaics was dedicated to flyer Amelia Earhart, who lived in Toluca Lake.  The portraits were so recognizable to her likeness. 

I loved the historic flavor and old time references in this station.  It was definitely my favorite one of the four, and really made me wish I'd lived in the Valley in the 1950s.  Just imagine being able to pick citrus from any tree as you walked to and from your studio background acting job!

More info about the artwork in the NoHo station, including artists' statements, can be found here.  Tomorrow I will have pictures from the Universal station.

Details of the Amelia Earhart mosaic