Artists have been picked to design four installations totaling $1.05 million at Union Depot in St. Paul's lowertown. The 33-acre Union Depot site is being transformed into a regional transit hub for Amtrak and the light rail line linking St. Paul and Minneapolis as well as bus, bike and other transport modes. The art projects are to be installed in 2013.

The Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority (RCRRA) has committted about $1.25 million for art projects including $1 million in national funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). In addition to the four projects announced Aug. 7, the RCRRA plans to hire additional artists for smaller depot projects totaling about $200,000.

Depot renovation is scheduled for completion at the end of 2012.

Picked from 156 applicants, the chosen artists are:

Steve Dietz, Minneapolis, Mn: $500,000 to head a team that plans to develop an "interactive multimedia artwork platform." Best known locally as the impresario behind "Northern Spark," a one-night midsummer culture festival centered on the Mississippi River, Dietz will head a team that includes light artist Jim Campbell; Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat, Montreal-based artists who "specialize in large-scale participatory art projects," Michael Murnane, a Twin Cities-based light-projection artist; architect Jeffrey Scherer; Sarah Peters who is billed as "a public engagement and community partnership specialist," and Cynthia Hilmoe, an "expert in user interface and design."

Tim Prentice, West Cornwall, Conn: $200,000 for a kinetic metal sculpture to be suspended over the depot's new Kellogg Entry where transit riders will ascend from the street to the train deck and waiting room.

Ray King, Philadelphia, Penn: $200,000 for a suspended sculpture -- most likely made of glass, metal and/or laminating films -- for the Great Hall Atrium.

Amy Baur and Brian Boldon, Minneapolis, MN: $150,000 for a ceramic-tile-and-glass mural along a 170 ft. wall in the carriageway that serves auto, taxi or other ground transportaton.