Temporal Terminus: Marking the Line - an awesome temporary public art exhibit that celebrates the important transformation of the Prairie Line Trail from rail to linear park - opened Saturday, Nov. 12 in downtown Tacoma. On the rainy opening afternoon, the Tacoma Arts Commission, staff from the University of Washington-Tacoma and the artist teams behind the eight installations guided approximately 60 people through the outdoor exhibition, which traverses downtown from South 25th Street to the Thea Foss Waterway.

The exhibition features amazing sculptural work by Austin-based national design team, Thoughtbarn (composed of Lucy Begg and Robert Gay), as well as a who's who from the Tacoma arts scene: Jennifer Renee Adams, Kyle Dillehay, Kristin Giordano, Jeremy N. Gregory, Diane Hansen, Christopher Jordan, Lance Kagey, Lisa Kinoshita, Ed Kroupa, Bret Lyon, Janet Marcavage, Maria Olga Meneses, Nicholas Nyland, Chandler O'Leary, Elise Richman, Claudia Riedener, Holly A. Senn, Chris Sharp, James Grayson Sinding and Kenji Stoll.

The City of Tacoma received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to give the historic rail line a facelift, shining an artistic light on the line the Northern Pacific Railroad built in 1873. Temporal Terminus - in partnership with the City of Tacoma's PA:ID (Public Art In Depth) multi-faceted program and the University of Washington-Tacoma - is the inaugural installation, with Philadelphia-based award-winning urban designer Todd Bressi and the team Thoughtbarn wearing the conductor hats. Up until 2003, trains pounded the historic rail corridor from the Thea Foss Waterway to the Brewery District, passing rickety warehouses and dens of iniquity before UW-Tacoma rang the school bell. Today, feet and bikes traverse the line, passing installations titled TacomaBall, Rogue Rhizomes and Ghost Prairie. When all said and done, some $5.83 million will be pumped into the half-mile Prairie Trail Line, creating a living and breathing interpretive trail connecting the waterfront with downtown Tacoma, which will also include a storm water purification system for the polluted runoff from Hilltop.

Below are a few photos of Temporal Terminus I snapped during yesterday's rainy afternoon tour. Due to the City of Tacoma's budget cuts to the Megaphone Department, and my frozen hands, I'm forced to add descriptive paragraphs written by the Tacoma Arts Commission. I have no idea what McBirde and the artist said through that crappy megaphone.

Dock Street: Zero Down

From a series of "footprints" that occupy the grassy area, colorful shadows extend. The images are rendered in temporary paint and continued in chalk; the forms span the grass and onto the concrete morphing into forms human and imagined. Each brightly colored shadow represents the diversity and complexities of humans' personalities. Artists: Chris Jordan, Chandler O'Leary, Claudia Riedener

15th Street Overpass: TacomaBall

The curve of this overpass is the inspiration for TacomaBall, a monumental, temporarily interactive pinball style game. Balls are bowled down the curve interacting with various obstacles depicting various national and local icons. Racing stripes and imagery reminiscent of the game will remain on the ramp through the course of the exhibit making every pedestrian a player in the game. Artists: Kyle Dillehay, Lisa Kinoshita

Under I-705: Wild Wilderness

This work comments on the diminishing open spaces in our world and that impact on animal habitat. In addition, it calls attention to the wild spaces that exist within our urban midst. A variety of animals that would be hard pressed to co-exist inhabit this newly created environment. Artists: Jennifer Adams, Kristin Giordano, Kenji Stoll

Hood Street: Rogue Rhizomes

This section of the Prairie Line Trail is a ragged remnant of an industrial heritage that has witnessed dynamic transformation all around, while remaining itself, virtually unchanged over the last 100 years. The fringes of this space are a competition between structured plantings and wildness trying to reinsert itself into the landscape. This installation explores the rogue elements of organic invasiveness, between city and wildness. Using brightly colored markers and a three-dimensional letterform the eye is drawn from a distance and evoke ideas of giant flora. Organic patterns around the base of each light pole emanate outwards over time making use of positive and negative space and ‘invade' the surrounding area. Artists: Chris Sharp, Lance Kagey, James Sinding

Tollefson: Link

"Link" makes visible the connection between the rail lines and highlights how the Prairie Line Trail linked Tacoma to the communities of Tenino, McIntosh, Wetico, Rainier, Yelm, Roy, Hillhurst, Lakeview, and South Tacoma. Floating yellow orbs, iconic of the yellow and black railroad signs will re-enact the stops along the line that connected with these communities. Artists: Bret Lyon, Janet Marcavage, Holly Senn

UW-T Campus: Ghost Prairie

Thoughtbarn installation speaks to the railroad line's namesake. Inspired by the mysterious Mima mounds located in southern Washington and the plight of the prairie, our public art installation introduces a piece of ‘artificial prairie' along the rails of the Prairie Line Trail in downtown Tacoma. It is a playful referral to both the railroad's history and its new landscape-driven future as a bike and pedestrian path through the city. For its duration the colorful, intriguing object(s) will catch the eye of local pedestrians and drivers. They will draw attention to the oft-overlooked railroad that nonetheless defines Tacoma's history. Those most curious can get up close to run their hands along the "grasses," which will also glow at night. Artists: Thoughtbarn (Lucy Begg, Robert Gay) with help from Tacoma School of the Arts students

UW-T Pedestrian Bridge: Envision

Gigantic eyes look down on the campus from the pedestrian bridge. Are they benevolent? Visionary? Judging? That depends. The eyes are those of Abraham Lincoln, the visionary whose dream it was to complete a transcontinental rail that would meet the Pacific. Is he overlooking his accomplishment or wondering about this particular routes demise and our crazy modern lives? Walking over the ped bridge, one experiences a different viewpoint and inspiration for the endurance of vision. Artists: Jeremy Gregory, Diane Hansen, Ed Kroupa

UW-T Grassy Areas: Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was a phrase that justified the territorial expansion of the United States as if it were a divine sanction. A series of markers reminiscent of the Northern Pacific Railroad signs act as a historical timeline of Tacoma, starting in 1870, three years before Tacoma was designated as the western terminus for the transcontinental railroad. A stepping-stone begins the journey and the subsequent signs track the growing population of the city over 140 years at intervals that represent the largest jumps in population. Artists: Maria Meneses, Nicholas Nyland, Elise Richman

Temporal Terminus: Marking the Line temporary public art exhibit will dot the downtown Tacoma landscape through Nov. 30, 2011. A map of the public art exhibit can be found here.

LINK: More Temporal Terminus opening day photos