MTA Arts & Design

MTA Arts & Design Art Along the Way mta.info/art Old and new happily coexist.
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As you travel through the Metropolitan Transportation Authority network in the New York City region, you experience a first-rate art museum of mosaic, terra cotta, bronze, glass, and mixed media sculpture. The founders of the New York City subway believed that every design element in the system should show respect for our customers and enhance their experience of travel. As the century-old transpo

rtation network is restored and renewed, decorative elements of the past are preserved and protected even as contemporary art and design are introduced. Note: Please respect your fellow readers and exercise appropriate restraint in drafting and submitting a post. In that regard, MTA Arts & Design reserves its right to delete any post that contains language or imagery which: is off-topic, is defamatory, compromises public safety or operations, disparages a group or individual on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation, is commercial, contravenes law, contains spam, invades personal privacy, has sexual content, is obscene, includes any link to another site, or infringes on a copyright or other proprietary right.

On May 7, we welcomed photographer Christopher Payne (Christopher Payne) for a live taping of the public‑radio program “...
06/15/2026

On May 7, we welcomed photographer Christopher Payne (Christopher Payne) for a live taping of the public‑radio program “Person Place Thing” at the New York Transit Museum. The conversation captured everything we admire about his work: curiosity, craft, and the ability to reveal unexpected beauty inside some of MTA’s most complex spaces.

During the event, we also shared exciting news: Payne is returning to the MTA to photograph new behind‑the‑scenes locations for an exhibition launching this September. We can’t wait to show you what he discovers.
 
While you wait, you can listen to the full conversation from the event. Tune in this week to hear from Payne, host Randy Cohen, and MTA Music performers Dingonek Street Band (Dingonek Street Band).
 
Tuesday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. on WNYE 91.5 FM
Thursday at 8:30 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 p.m. on WAMC

Or anytime online at PersonPlaceThing.org or Apple Podcasts

2026 MTA Music Stations Series Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Thursday, May 21 Bronx Pa...
05/20/2026

2026 MTA Music Stations Series
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Thursday, May 21

Bronx
Parkchester, Lower Mezzanine
12-3pm: Vong Pak – traditional Korean drum and dance .us

Brooklyn
Atlantic Ave – Barclays Center, Lower Mezzanine near 4,5 stairs
12-3pm: Sharon Yung – classical violin

Manhattan
34 St-Herald Sq, Mezzanine above N,R,Q,W
12-3pm: Yut Violinist – electric violin

Queens — Cancelled
Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Av/74 St. Apologies, the performance scheduled for this location has been cancelled.

Staten Island
St George Ferry Terminal
12-3pm: Kazoo 365 – pop guitar/vocals

Now on view at Fulton Center: Shuttle and Shake by artist Shimon Attie ()This digital installation spotlights dancers, m...
05/11/2026

Now on view at Fulton Center: Shuttle and Shake by artist Shimon Attie ()

This digital installation spotlights dancers, martial artists, and performers moving against a stark black backdrop. Their precise gestures and sharp silhouettes echo the flow of commuters navigating the station each day.

Set inside one of NYC’s busiest hubs, Shuttle and Shake mirrors the city’s constant motion—its rushes, pauses, and rhythms—inviting viewers to notice the movement in their own daily commute.

Catch this two-minute burst of motion at the top of every hour, presented with support from Westfield RISE and ANC Sports.

Announcing a bold new direction for our Photography Program: systemwide artist takeovers are coming this fall. For the f...
05/08/2026

Announcing a bold new direction for our Photography Program: systemwide artist takeovers are coming this fall. For the first time, a single artist’s work will fill all 45 Arts & Design lightboxes across four stations.

Our inaugural takeover exhibition will feature industrial photographer Christopher Payne, whose large‑format images reveal the unseen beauty of American industry, infrastructure, and the skilled labor that powers it.

For the forthcoming exhibition, will expand on his acclaimed series inside the MTA’s Coney Island Overhaul Shop, broadening it into a systemwide study of the behind‑the‑scenes operations that keep the nation’s largest transit network moving.

The work will span all of the MTA’s operating agencies—New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro‑North Railroad, MTA Bus Company, and MTA Bridges and Tunnels—offering the public a rare view of infrastructure and expertise that make daily travel possible.

Launching September 2026

See and feel “Indigenous Presence” by Dakota Mace, now on view at Bowling Green Station!  Drawing on the Diné concept of...
05/05/2026

See and feel “Indigenous Presence” by Dakota Mace, now on view at Bowling Green Station! 
 
Drawing on the Diné concept of ałk’idáá, ’s series uses historical and experimental photographic processes—including pinhole photography, chemigrams, and cliché verre, a combination of hand-drawing and photography— to highlight the layered histories embedded in the land. 
 
Photographed around Bowling Green—a site once used as an Indigenous council ground and tied to early Manhattan history—the work reframes the urban landscape as an active storyteller connecting past, present, and future. 
 
📍Bowling Green (4,5), near the mezzanine entrance to uptown platform
 
Through September 2026
 
Printing support provided by and .nyc with installation support from

04/29/2026

Get an inside look at the art at Grand Central with MTA Arts & Design! 🎨 Join us Friday, May 1 at 3:00 PM for “Art Everywhere for Everyone: Inside the MTA’s Public Art Program,” a virtual Jane’s Walk with .

As we celebrate 40 years of public art across the system, including poetry, live music, posters, photography, digital works, and more than 400 site-specific artworks, this program takes you behind the scenes to show how these works are conceived, installed, and maintained.

Free admission. Registration required. www.mas.org/events/janes-walk-nyc
After the session, continue exploring at your own pace with self-guided tours on the app.

MTA Arts & Design is pleased to announce the installation of a new permanent artwork by artist Christopher Myers at New ...
04/24/2026

MTA Arts & Design is pleased to announce the installation of a new permanent artwork by artist Christopher Myers at New York City Transit (NYCT) Church Av station in Brooklyn on the Brighton line (B,Q).

Installed across four walls within the station’s newly constructed, ADA-accessible mezzanine, the large‑scale mosaic artwork brings together the storied theatrical histories of Flatbush and the vibrant Caribbean diaspora that continues to define the neighborhood’s cultural life. The commission is Myers’ first completed permanent public artwork and his first work in mosaic.

Titled “If you don’t want your children to know the truth about life don’t send ’em to the theater” (for Kaze and Kaneza), the artwork draws from Myers’ practice of weaving historical research, archival excavation, and mythic narrative into visually rich tableaux. The mosaics, fabricated in glass tesserae by Mosaicos Venecianos de México, unfold as a celebration of spectacle, performance, and the many stages on which Brooklyn communities have expressed themselves for more than a century.

🔗 Learn more about this special commission via the link in bio.

📸: “If you don’t want your children to know the truth about life don’t send ‘em to the theater” (for Kaze and Kaneza) (2026) © Christopher Myers, NYCT Church Av Station. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design. Photo: Dan Bradica.

NYC

Now on view! “Manifestations of the Voyage” by Liz Nielsen at Grand Central Madison ✨Ten photograms by unfold as vivid...
04/23/2026

Now on view! “Manifestations of the Voyage” by Liz Nielsen at Grand Central Madison ✨

Ten photograms by unfold as vivid, abstract landscapes shaped entirely by light. The exhibition’s title, borrowed from poet and artist Etel Adnan, gestures toward the inner worlds that emerge in moments of transit.

📍Grand Central Madison, southern concourse

Start manifesting now through September 2026.

04/14/2026

Get to know the person behind the photographs.

Join on May 7 for a live taping of the public‑radio show Person Place Thing, where guests reveal their story through just three choices: one person, one place, and one thing that matters most to them. Simple idea, unforgettable conversations.

This episode features industrial photographer , known for his striking images of American manufacturing. From piano factories and textile mills to the ’s Coney Island Overhaul Shops, his photographs spotlight the beauty, precision, and dedication inside the places where things are made.

Be part of the conversation — and don’t miss his “Made in America” exhibition at to see the work up close.

📍 New York Transit Museum, Brooklyn
🗓️ Thursday, May 7, 6–8pm
🎺 Live music by MTA Music performers Dingonek Street Band ()
🎟️ Tickets via link in bio

Now on view at Grand Central Madison: “Beach Umbrellas/Shore Front Parkway” (2025) by Roe Ethridge. Presented in ten lar...
12/04/2025

Now on view at Grand Central Madison: “Beach Umbrellas/Shore Front Parkway” (2025) by Roe Ethridge. Presented in ten large-scale illuminated displays, this Photography program exhibition features vivid, surreal images taken at Rockaway Beach, where the artist lives and works. ’s “Beach Umbrella” series captures the joyful remnants of summer 2020—broken umbrellas, flip-flops, and sunflowers—while “Shore Front Parkway” traces the shift into autumn with glowing light and dreamlike still lifes. Blending editorial polish with poetic abstraction, these works explore the beauty of everyday rituals and the passage of time.

The exhibition was generously sponsored by Griffin Editions , Berger Textiles , and Underground Visuals , with installation support by OUTFRONT Media .

📍 Grand Central Madison Concourse
🖼️ On view through March 2026
📸 Jason Mandella

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