MTA Arts & Design, formerly known as Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts for Transit and Arts for Transit and Urban Design, [1] is a commissioned art program directed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the transportation systems serving New York City and the surrounding region. Since 1985, the program has installed art in more than 260 transit stations. [2] The art is intended to be site-specific and to improve the journey for New Yorkers and visitors alike.
MTA Arts & Design has works commissioned by over 300 artists, with entries in graphic art, photography installations, digital art, Music Under New York, Poetry in Motion, and special events.
When the first line of what is now the New York City Subway opened in 1904, its founders declared that the railway was a "great public work" where every design element should show respect for customers and improve the experience of travel through beauty and efficiency. [3] MTA Arts & Design was created in 1985 when the MTA began to reverse years of decline by rehabilitating and renewing the transit system. [2]
The commissioning of original artwork was intended to show riders that the system values their comfort and experience within stations. Works use durable materials like ceramic tile and mosaic, bronze, stainless steel, glass and light. MTA Arts & Design also plays an important role in design elements and architecture within passenger stations as well as industrial design elements and subway car design.
The Percent for Art projects link people to places with art that echoes the architectural or cultural history, urban design and community context of stations. The identity of New York City and its subway system is connected to the permanent artwork in the stations. The collection of work serves as the city's underground art museum and represents its vitality, energy and diversity. [4] Most of the art is site-specific. [5] [6]
Artists are chosen through a competitive process with selection panels composed of visual-arts professionals. They review artists’ previous work, choose finalists who produce site-specific proposals, and then reconvene to select artist proposals for the given project(s). Community representatives are invited to attend the meetings and provide input. Artist opportunities are posted on the A&D website and announced through social media and local arts organizations. [7]
Notable artists commissioned through the program include Xenobia Bailey, Romare Bearden, Vito Acconci, Priscila De Carvalho, Jacob Lawrence, Ellen Harvey, Sol LeWitt, Roy Lichtenstein, Jack Beal, Elizabeth Murray, Faith Ringgold, Duke Riley, Shinique Smith, Nancy Spero, Doug and Mike Starn and Tom Otterness' Life Underground . [8]
The January 1, 2017, opening of the Second Avenue Subway Phase 1 stations (72nd Street, 86th Street, and 96th Street as well as new renovation of Lexington Avenue–63rd Street) added permanent installations by Vik Muniz, Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, and Jean Shin to the Arts & Design collection. [9] Stations renovated as part of the Enhanced Station Initiative in 2017–2019 also received new or expanded artwork during their renovations. [10]
As of 2015, more than 100 projects were underway, including Ann Hamilton's artwork for the new Cortlandt Street station. [11] Another notable work, Sky Reflector-Net, was installed in 2014 in the then-new Fulton Center headhouse. It uses hundreds of aluminum mirrors to provide natural sunlight from a 53-foot skylight to an underground area as much as four stories deep. [12] This is the first intentional skylight in the New York City Subway system since the 1945 closure of the original City Hall station. [13]
The 103rd Street station is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 103rd Street in East Harlem, it is served by the 6 train at all times, the <6> train during weekdays in the peak direction, and the 4 train during late nights.
The Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum station is a local station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn adjacent to the Brooklyn Museum, it is served by the 2 train at all times, the 3 train at all times except late nights, and the 4 train during late nights.
The 81st Street–Museum of Natural History station is a local station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the B on weekdays, the C train at all times except nights, and the A train during late nights only.
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that serves four of the five boroughs of New York City, New York: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Its operator is the New York City Transit Authority, which is itself controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York. In 2015, an average of 5.65 million passengers used the system daily, making it the busiest rapid transit system in the United States and the 11th busiest in the world.
The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line is a New York City Subway line. It is one of several lines that serves the A Division, stretching from South Ferry in Lower Manhattan north to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street in Riverdale, Bronx. The Brooklyn Branch, known as the Wall and William Streets Branch during construction, from the main line at Chambers Street southeast through the Clark Street Tunnel to Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn, is also part of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line is the only line to have elevated stations in Manhattan, with two short stretches of elevated track at 125th Street and between Dyckman and 225th Streets.
The Cathedral Parkway–110th Street station is a local station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located in the Upper West Side and Morningside Heights, Manhattan, at West 110th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard at the northwest corner of Central Park. The station is served by the B on weekdays, the C train at all times except nights, and the A train during late nights only.
The WTC Cortlandt station is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway in the Financial District of Manhattan. The station is located under the intersection of Greenwich Street and Cortlandt Way within the World Trade Center. It is served by the 1 train at all times.
The 66th Street–Lincoln Center station is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 66th Street and Broadway in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times and by the 2 train during late nights.
The 59th Street–Columbus Circle station is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the IND Eighth Avenue Line. It is located at Columbus Circle in Manhattan, where 59th Street, Broadway and Eighth Avenue intersect, and serves Central Park, the Upper West Side, Hell's Kitchen, and Midtown Manhattan. The station is served by the 1, A, and D trains at all times; the C train at all times except late nights; the B train during weekdays until 11:00 p.m.; and the 2 train during late nights.
The Cathedral Parkway–110th Street station is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Cathedral Parkway and Broadway in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times.
Fulton Center is a subway and retail complex centered at the intersection of Fulton Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The complex was built as part of a $1.4 billion project by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public agency of the state of New York, to rehabilitate the New York City Subway's Fulton Street station. The work involved constructing new underground passageways and access points into the complex, renovating the constituent stations, and erecting a large station building that doubles as a part of the Westfield World Trade Center mall.
The 72nd Street station is a local station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at 72nd Street and Central Park West on the Upper West Side. It is served by the B on weekdays, the C train at all times except nights, and the A train during late nights only.
The Fifth Avenue/53rd Street station is a station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street in Manhattan, it is served by the E train at all times and the M train weekdays except late nights.
The Avenue X station is a local station in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn on the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the F train at all times and the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.
The East 105th Street station is a grade-level station on the BMT Canarsie Line of the New York City Subway. Located near East 105th Street between Foster Avenue and Farragut Road in Canarsie, Brooklyn, it is served by the L train at all times.
The Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station is a New York City Subway station in Lenox Hill, Manhattan, shared by the IND and BMT 63rd Street Lines. Located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street, it is served by the F and Q trains at all times; <F> trains during rush hours in the peak direction; limited rush hour N trains; and one A.M. rush hour R train in the northbound direction only.
The Alabama Avenue station is an elevated station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Alabama Avenue and Fulton Street in East New York, Brooklyn, it is served by the J train at all times and the Z train during rush hours in the peak direction.
The Metropolitan Avenue/Lorimer Street station is an underground New York City Subway station complex shared by the BMT Canarsie Line and the IND Crosstown Line. Located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the complex is served by the G and L trains at all times.
The 96th Street station is a station on the IND Second Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Second Avenue and 96th Street on the border of the Upper East Side/Yorkville and East Harlem neighborhoods in Manhattan, it is the northern terminus for the Q train at all times. It is also served by limited rush hour N trains and one northbound morning rush hour R train. The station is the terminus for the first phase of the Second Avenue Line.
The Chambers Street–World Trade Center/Park Place/Cortlandt Street station is a New York City Subway station complex on the IND Eighth Avenue Line, IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, and BMT Broadway Line. Located on Church Street between Chambers and Cortlandt Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, it is served by the 2, A and E trains at all times; W train on weekdays; 3, C and R trains at all times except late nights; and N train during late nights.