Bay Shore Icons

1992 Bay Shore (Montauk Branch) Long Island Rail Road

Brit Bunkley created a suite of modern architectural elements that overlay the station's columns. The cast stone elements include round medallions, symbolic of clocks, at each end of the station that are set above framed icons representing local history and transportation. To highlight the advantages of public transportation, the artist created a frieze portraying cars in a traffic jam. "Since I thought the architecture of the waiting areas looked like a 'Prairie Style Doric Temple,' I designed the extended lintel as a Prairie Style window-like structure (which also mimics the LIRR train windows)," says the artist. "The images within... include pleasure boats, a beach umbrella/arrow with egg (a reference to the egg and dart molding), and a Fire Island lighthouse as a chess piece." Taken together, the work adds visual interest and a holiday spirit to both a commuter station and a major launching point for visits to the seashore.