From Red River oxcarts to Willys-Overland cars, many vehicles have rumbled along what is now dubbed the Central Corridor between St. Paul and Minneapolis. That history and a lot of community input has shaped plans for $2.8 million in art for 15 new stations on the light-rail line planned to link the two cities by 2014.

Proposals for the station art will be unveiled tonight at a public meeting in St. Paul.

It will be unveiled from 5 to 7 tonight at Goodwill Easter Seals, 553 Fairview Av. N., St. Paul.

Designs are still in the preliminary phase and will be refined in the next few months, said Laura Baenen, communications manager for the Central Corridor. "We don't anticipate radical change, but the public is welcome to comment, especially on things like safety."

Six artists are working on the project: Nancy Blum of New York, Roberto Delgado of Los Angeles, Seitu Jones of St. Paul, Janet Lofquist of Minneapolis and the husband-wife team of Stanton Sears and Andrea Myklebust, who live near Stockholm, Wis. The artists were chosen in October by the Metropolitan Council, which is building the line in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Each artist or team is responsible for designing, producing and installing art at three stations. The art will be mostly embellishments -- ornamental columns, mosaics, pavers or screens, for example -- on functional elements such as station platforms, lights or railings.

In consultation with neighborhood groups and art-advisory committees, the artists developed thematic designs inspired by neighborhood history, settlement, nature and industry.

Early sketches by Sears and Myklebust, for example, include black granite wheels for all three of their stations. At Westgate, on the Minneapolis-St. Paul border, the wheels suggest the cars and tractors once manufactured nearby. At the line's terminus in St. Paul's Union Depot, the wheels mimic those of a steam engine, while at Raymond Avenue, they allude to the oxcarts that once passed nearby.

Other preliminary designs reference migratory birds on the Mississippi River flyway; oak forests; geometric figures and math formulas (for a University of Minnesota station); the colorful clothing favored by East African residents on Minneapolis' West Bank; Winter Carnival ice palaces, and Minnesota's bill of rights (for a station near the State Capitol). For the Snelling Avenue station, area residents wanted something with bright, vibrant colors, so artist Delgado proposed tiles and pavers decorated with photos of neighborhood residents.

Designs have been reviewed by committees and light rail officials, but must be approved this fall by the Metro Council and federal officials before the artists can start construction. The council authorized contracts of up to $560,000 per team, or $2.8 million total.

Mary Abbe • 612-673-4431