Through the Permanent Art Program, Arts for Transit commissions public art that is seen by millions of city-dwellers as well as national and international visitors who use the MTA’s subways and trains. Arts for Transit works closely with the architects and engineers at MTA NYC Transit, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad to determine the parameters and sites for the artwork that is to be incorporated into each station scheduled for renovation. Both well-established and emerging artists contribute to the growing collection of works created in the materials of the system - mosaic, ceramic, tile, bronze, steel and glass. Artists are chosen through a competitive process that uses selection panels comprised of visual arts professionals and community representatives which review and select artists. This data provides the branch or station and the artist and artwork information.
This dataset has the following 9 columns:
| Column Name | API Column Name | Data Type | Description | Sample Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agency | agency | text | This is the abbreviated code for an agency. Example: LIRR=Long Island Rail Road, MNR = Metro-North Railroad, NYCT = New York City Transit | NYCT Metro-North LIRR SIR MTA Bus Company view top 100 |
| Station Name | station_name | text | This is the railroad or subway station where the art is located | Times Sq-42 St 86 St Grand Central-42 St 34 St-Herald Sq 34 St-Penn Station view top 100 |
| Line | line | text | This is the railroad or subway line that is associated with the station | 6 2,5 City Terminal Zone 1 Port Jefferson view top 100 |
| Artist | artist | text | The artist’s name(s) | Kathleen McCarthy Laura F. Gibellini Wopo Holup Andrea Dezsš Yumi Heo view top 100 |
| Art Title | art_title | text | This is the name of the piece of art | Five Points of Observation Untitled Migration Q is for Queens Dom (Variations) view top 100 |
| Art Date | art_date | text | This is the year the art was first displayed at the station | 2018 2011 2002 2017 1999 view top 100 |
| Art Material | art_material | text | This describes what materials were used in making the art | Faceted glass Glass mosaic Laminated glass Laminated Glass Glass Mosaic view top 100 |
| Art Description | art_description | text | This is a description of the art along with other interesting facts | Five Points of Observation, sited on the platform walls of five adjacent subway stations in Queens, is composed of five colossal six-foot heads made of copper mesh positioned at different angles and inserted in specially cut openings in the windscreen walls that otherwise would block views from the platforms to the streets below. Positioning themselves in the heads, subway riders can look out onto the world literally through the eyes of the sculptural forms. The artist created the faces so as to be both multiethnic and androgynous, leaving room for viewers to construct for themselves stories of who these haunting forms might be and what they might signify. The faces are constructed with steel armatures and a grid of wire mesh, which serves a protective as well as expressive function. Also, the positioning of the forms varies from station to station, giving them further variety and expressiveness. When the 7 train emerges from the ground near the East River in Queens, on its way farther into the borough, leaving Manhattan behind, it travels through a succession of stations over one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the city. The renovation of this line included a major work of art to pay homage to the borough and its diversity, in which illustrator Yumi Heo designed 30 faceted-glass panes that have been installed along stationsÕ mezzanines and platforms. Collectively titled Q is for Queens, the component panels successively highlight different aspects of the adjacent neighborhoods Ð events, stores, food, and landmarks. The artist cleverly employs the alphabet Ð A is for Aqueduct racetrack É Z is for Zoo Ð to point out the enormous range of experiences that the area offers. N/A Dom (Variations) appears as an apparition at the Fresh Pond Station Ð a warm and inviting bedroom welcoming commuters to their home station. A neat bed, wallpapered wall, firm pillows and shiny furniture complete the scene. The artistÕs intent is to reflect the path that flows from within the interior space of a cozy home to the exterior world, tracing the daily commute to work and the return home. Based on the concept of ÒhomeÓ, the mosaic mural, located across from the mezzanine entrance, depicts a lived in domestic interior scene, complete with scattered garments, books and a floor lamp. The pattern of the wallpaper on the bedroomÕs back wall derives from a map, while natural elements like tree-leaves and branches invade the room Ð and seem to themselves form into wallpaper. The image of a window within the mosaic emulates the real windows in the next two stations. It is an innovative use of materials, in the techniques used to print on tile and the combination of subway tile and mosaic to represent depth and texture. At the Seneca Avenue and Forest Avenue stations, the imagery printed and hand-painted on glass, is of clothes hanging on clotheslines. Lovingly rendered, the clothing speaks to residents and domesticity, bringing a human scale to an otherwise everyday subway passage. Natural elements and branches and trees can be seen through the semi-translucent glass, echoing the imagery found within the Fresh Pond station mosaic mural. Overall, the work seeks to inspire an ethereal and dreamy atmosphere that evokes memories of the past and of a dreamed home. Inspired by the transformation of East New YorkÕs vacant lots into cherished local gardens, Woolfalk created Urban Garden Rail to reflect the people of the community, who work side by side to cultivate the land and enrich the local community. Many of the unused locations have been reclaimed by the local gardeners, resulting in thousands of pounds of produce that is consumed by the neighborhood residents as well as people who patronize the gardens and the local farmersÕ markets. Fabricated into two layers of painted stainless steel panels, Urban Garden Rail is located along the windscreen walls of the elevated stationsÕ platforms while many of the farms can be seen and are located within steps of the stations. Through the artwork, Saya Woolfalk depicts figures within the gardens while integrating background patterns from various cultures, seeking to capture the beauty, pride and intergenerational collaborations embedded in these spaces. view top 100 |
| Art Image Link | art_image_link | url | This is a link that can take you directly to the MTA website so you may see the available art | view top 100 |