The Glass Storybook and the Great Menagerie: 联合车站的艺术

Winold瑞斯

The artist selected for the large mural project was Winold瑞斯. 赖斯于1913年从德国移民到美国，并以肖像画家和室内设计师的身份确立了自己的地位. 赖斯通过在美国西部画印第安人以及在哈莱姆的肖像作品而出名. 的壁画 themselves were executed in glass mosaic tile. 这种格式将提供非常生动的颜色，不会随着时间的推移而褪色或难以维护, something ideal in a potentially dirty, smoke-filled train station. 赖斯将与纽约的拉文纳瓷砖公司合作，为新航站楼创作宏伟的壁画. 赖斯在这个项目中的主要职责是制作三分之一比例的漫画, 拉文纳在创作全尺寸马赛克瓷砖壁画时会参考哪一幅呢.

Ultimately there was space for 23 mosaic murals in the terminal building. 赖斯会拍摄当地的商业，并根据这些图像创作他的漫画，几乎是直接的. For the two massive rotunda murals, 瑞斯 created two timelines: one of the history of the United States, from the Native Americans to the ‘modern’ citizen, 还有一个是辛辛那提, from settlement to the ‘modern’ period. In these two murals 瑞斯 planted several real life figures, 来自当地的工程师, a 结合终端 construction worker, 即使是他的兄弟, to, to three Blackfoot Native Americans. 瑞斯更喜欢从真实的东西开始工作，而不是从头开始创造角色. 因此，在拍摄当地工业时，他借鉴了以前的工作机会.

安装瑞斯的作品

这些马赛克是由赖斯三分之一比例的漫画放大而成的, which when finished were shipped to the studio. Here workers would grid out the images and begin matching tiles, 或入场券, to the colors found in 瑞斯’ original. 其中许多碎片大约有五分镍币大小，并被单独定位和修整以达到理想的外观. 的壁画 are silhouette mosaics, which mean the main elements of the murals are fully done in tesserae, but that the backgrounds are colored plaster. 这既节省了成本，又在玻璃砖和灰泥之间形成了有趣的对比.

Workers assembled the tesserae on paper guides, 使用一张看起来有点像数字表的纸来正确地放置所有东西. 他们会轻轻地把纸粘在纸片上，防止纸片移动. 的壁画 were done in roughly two-foot-square sections, and as each section was finished, 另一张纸被粘在裸露的一面，以确保在运输到建筑工地的过程中不会松动. 曾经在这里, 壁画组装团队会在将要放置壁画的墙壁上涂上一层薄薄的石膏. 一旦石膏被抹上, 设计背面的纸被撕掉，压在石膏上. 石膏干了之后, the paper that remained on the front of the section was removed, leaving the finished section in place. 他们自下而上地工作，仔细检查壁画，以确保每件东西都在适当的位置.

瑞斯, given his background as an interior designer, 为整个建筑的水磨石地板图案的设计提供建议，并为圆形穹顶的配色方案提供建议. 赖斯的设计最终占据了惊人的11,908平方英尺的艺术作品!

皮埃尔Bourdelle

在公共房间里接受艺术合同的艺术家是一个名叫皮埃尔·布尔德尔的法国人. Bourdelle was asked to decorate the ceilings in the private dining rooms, the formal dining room and the hall that lead to it, the paintings that hung along the top of the wall in the cafeteria, 餐厅旁的女洗手间前厅的手工切割油毡设计, 女性休息室的面板(以及手工剪纸墙纸)和新闻片影院. Bourdelle would ultimately create 5,496 square feet of work for 结合终端, by far the largest single project of his career.

不像瑞斯的作品, Bourdelle’s would dwell in fantasy, conjuring up jungle scenes, 美人鱼, 还有奇花异草. 这些壁画的色彩生动，在某些情况下，材料异国情调. The ceiling murals were painted oil-on-canvas, 使用鲜艳的颜色, 一些金属, which he painted and then glued to the ceiling. 在正式餐厅, Bourdelle painted the largest of the ceiling murals, 辛辛那提的地图, 以城市的交通形式和地标为界. The map is a curiosity in that it is reversed, 东方走向西方, 很像著名的中央车站大厅壁画的反转. For the dining rooms upstairs, he painted three ceiling murals, all featuring elaborate and fanciful plant life. In the cafeteria he painted a series of murals showing food themes, from roosters to pies and even pizza!

女士休息室, 餐厅凹室, 和新闻片剧场, Bourdelle created something truly unique. 用油毡, 布尔代勒为新闻片剧院雕刻了描绘美人鱼的壁画, a jungle scene for the Alcove, and various flora in the Women’s Lounge. These linoleum panels were a favorite medium of Bourdelle, who believed in a permanence of material for public art, and the durable linoleum fit the bill.

To create these linoleum murals, Bourdelle would start with a sheet of linoleum, 使用工具, would score and carve the design into the linoleum. He would then sand then surface and coat the entire mural in a primer. After that he would paint the mural and then lacquer it to protect it. The finished mural would appear almost like embossed leather.

布尔代尔还为赖斯创作的壁画创作了设计，这一点也值得注意. 目前, it is not clear how the artistic contracts were let, Bourdelle似乎已经为整个壁画项目编制了一个作品集. 他的设计在他的剪贴簿中幸存下来，并提供了一个有趣的对立点，与赖斯略显英雄主义的表现相抗衡.

Restoring Bourdelle’s work

2009年和2010年，作为第一项目的一部分，布尔德尔的四幅壁画被清理和修复. 的壁画, which had not been cleaned in over 75 years, carried the cigarette smoke, dirt and grime of another age. 专家们仔细地清理和修复了壁画，使它们恢复了原来的光彩. After months of diligent work, 这些壁画于2010年揭幕，现在偶尔可以在公共和私人活动中看到.

威廉·E. Hentschel

该设施的另一个特色是卢克伍德茶室，今天的卢克伍德冰淇淋店. Designed by well-known Rookwood artist 威廉·E. Hentschel, 该设计是该公司宣布破产前最后一批建筑瓷砖安装之一. 房间的特点是薄荷绿，浅灰色和淡紫色配色的地板到天花板的瓷砖. The design features dragonflies and flowers and partitioned seating. The room originally provided tea, coffee and light refreshments. 二战期间, 这个房间是USO过境部队休息室的主要空间. Following the end of the war, the room was used for different functions, from food service to a game room. During the years when the building was a shopping center, it was a G. D. Ritzy’s ice cream and chili parlor. Since 结合终端 has been home to Cincinnati Museum Center, the room has been used as an ice cream parlor.