CREDIT: MIDCONTINENT.ORG
Old trains have a real air of romance to them – like the 1886 New York Elevated Railroad 6th Avenue line. Amtrak is bringing the romance of rail travel back with its Artist Residency program.

Trains certainly have whimsical allure to an artist. We conjure images of great men that have created great things hitting the rails to travel from destination to destination, in search of inspiration and a good, stiff drink. We imagine Kerouac hunkered down in a plush leather chair, legs up on the seat across from him, jacket slung over his shoulder, trying to get a bit of sleep before he hits the ground. Although nearly extinct in practice, the sentiment is potent within us.

Artists have a way of romanticizing the old days. We seem to love the idea of a simpler era when there was nothing but open space and ample time to fill with colour on a canvas or words on a page. Ever since the first time an artist poked his head out of the window of his staunch studio and saw people buzzing or the countryside grasses swaying, we haven't been able to get enough of playing The Observer.

And now, we can have it all again. Amtrak (a North American railroad company) has connected the dots and listened to artists' starving pleas. After hearing the buzz (via Twitter) or artists enjoying their time on the train writing and feverishly sketching their rapid-fire ideas, they've created an Artist Residency program where they offer free round-trip rides between New York to Chicago for artists in need of some time to be still and observe the world around them.

Public space has long been a staple to the modern artist. We've created little stools and easels that we can carry around tucked under our arm, small sketchpads, compact paint sets. But just as quick as it was imagined and flared up, it's being taken away from us. There is no shortage of life to observe — if you live in an urban city (like we do), there are people everywhere: it isn't often you're more than 10 feet away from someone else. But where can you go to just sit, watch? The mall. There are benches in the mall. But the most interesting places, places where our creative heritage pulls us to, have become merely travel routes. There aren't many places downtown to sit unless it's on a bus stop bench, restaurant patio or curb.

Amtrak has taken an innovative, generous first step towards what could be the revival of The Observer in art. What I propose is that if there were more free, open spaces to do what you wish with — paint a picture, read a book, sit and watch, play chess — it would quickly become a beacon, flashing light into the dim crevices we're currently tucked into, calling us to come out, observe, create.
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