The BUS SHELTER is the meeting point and welcome to the community. It is the first face of the artwork scheme that is presented to the viewer. Getting its name from “The Linden Tree”, the panels focus on the planning of the early town of Lindenwold . Streets lined with Linden trees were envisioned by Wimer Bedford, of the Penn Guarantee Trust Co. who is credited with naming the town after the German word meaning forest of Linden trees. The Linden can live for hundreds of years – they feature richly in the folklore and mythology of Europe where the oldest living linden tree has reached nearly 1000 years. A poem written by Wilhelm Müller and later scored as an orchestral work by the composer Franz Schubert sets the tone of “shelter”. The following verse is highlighted:
Its branches bent and rustled,
as if they called to me:
Come here, come here, companion,
your haven I shall be!
as if they called to me:
Come here, come here, companion,
your haven I shall be!
Bees which produce a choice honey from the Linden and birds & butterflies that live in its boughs are shown in silhouette. The theme is further expanded with period descriptions of the community of Lindenwold as an “idyllic suburban community. A businessman commuter’s alternative to the unhealthy life of the city.” Reproductions of the historic buildings of the area complete the artwork.
The WAITING AREA panels focus on the train journey. The viewer approaching through the PATCO station gets the first glimpse of the artwork and is welcomed by a depiction of Walt Whitman describing his “Winter Sunshine” outing on the Camden & Atlantic. He gives the work its title “Through to the Sea”.
As I went to bed a few Saturday nights ago, it entered my head all of a sudden, decidedly yet quietly that if the coming morn was fine, I would take a trip across Jersey by the Camden and Atlantic Railroad through to the sea.
Luck for me! A bright clear sunrise…
The journey from Camden (now Philadelphia ) to Atlantic City unfolds for the viewer as a collection of historic images.
The TRAIN SHELTER design focuses on the people of Lindenwold and the entrepreneurs who made the rail line possible.
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