The Other Side of the Tracks
On display August 16–October 6, 2024
Curated by Jorge Rojas
About The Other Side of the Tracks
In 1862, President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, a law that chartered the Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies to connect one side of the country to the other. In 2019, in cities across the country, the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad was celebrated with a great deal of fanfare.
Ogden’s Union Station on historic 25th Street became one point along the transcontinental route—a junction Union Pacific passed through on its way to Promontory and the Golden Spike. Heavily inscribed in our national mythos, the locomotive emblematizes our country’s ingenuity, its economic potency, and its dogged pursuit of manifest destiny.
But there is another story that must be told.
Zhi Lin. Chinaman's Chance on Promintory Summit: Golden Spike Celebration, 12:30PM, May 10, 1869. Video Still.
The histories unaccounted for in our best-known tales of the train—the men, women, and communities transformed but ignored in the dominant narrative of the engine and the nation it built—it’s their stories that still wait to be told.
The Other Side of the Tracks, a traveling exhibition, features the work of nine national and internationally recognized contemporary artists who come from these communities, whose voices have been excluded from the triumphal tales of the track. This approach challenges the traditional narrative about trains and promotes a more inclusive and accurate view of the subject.
The work of the Native American, African American, Chinese American, and Mexican art-makers in this exhibition creates a powerful vision of the railway from a perspective Americans have rarely experienced before.
Additionally, the research component, which included a journey by train the participating artists took together, visiting towns and cities built by the railway, was both innovative and critical to the evolution of the artwork in the exhibition. The research expedition between artists and the show’s curator also inspired the interdisciplinary nature of the exhibition.
Finally, a writer, photographer, and videographer also participated in the trip and documented this cross-country train excursion. The resulting video is included in the exhibition and accompanying publication.
Ultimately, The Other Side of the Tracks exhibition presents an imaginative new understanding of the locomotive through the eyes of artists from historically marginalized communities.
As a new generation of faster trains emerges, we must think critically about the history of our railways: who they have served, who they’ve neglected, and who they have hurt.
The power that trains have to move and inspire us is still strong, but if we are to build a more equitable future, we must make a more concerted effort to clearly see our past.
Part of our Stories_UnderScored 2024 exhibition theme.
About the Curator
The Other Side of the Tracks Press
Artists Ride, and Reframe, the U.S. Railroad in The Other Side of the Tracks
Southwest Contemporary Magazine
The Other Side of the Tracks Exhibiting Locations
Ogden Contemporary Arts
May 3 – July 14, 2024
455 25th Street
Ogden, Utah
RedLine Contemporary Art Center
August 16 – October 6, 2024
2350 Arapahoe Street
Denver, Colorado
516 ARTS
November 9, 2024 – February 8, 2025
516 Central Ave. SW
Albuquerque, New Mexico
About Stories_UnderScored
Through a curated series of exhibitions, programs, and events, we invite you to journey through the hidden corridors of history to celebrate the lives and legacies of those whose voices have been systematically underrepresented, and the stories which are at the center of RedLine’s collective communities.
