MTA Arts & Design

MTA Arts & Design Art Along the Way mta.info/art Old and new happily coexist.

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 transportation 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.

Latin rhythms are taking over all five boroughs tomorrow, Wednesday, October 7, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Che...
10/06/2026

Latin rhythms are taking over all five boroughs tomorrow, Wednesday, October 7, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Check out our full Stations Series lineup and drop by to catch these talented musicians.

Bronx: Parkchester (6), lower mezzanine 
noon-3 p.m.: Edgar Suarez – salsa and merengue vocalist 

Brooklyn: Atlantic Terminal / Atlantic Av–Barclays Ctr, upper mezzanine between (2,3) and (D,N,R)
noon-3 p.m.: MARLEY – singer-songwriter 
 
Manhattan: 34 St–Herald Sq, mezzanine above (N,Q,R,W)
noon-3 p.m.: Hasta La Zeta – Latin and Caribbean music ensemble
 
Queens: Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Av/74 St, mezzanine above (E,F,M)
noon-3 p.m.: Inti and the Moon – Latin American folk group 
 
Staten Island: St. George Ferry Terminal 
noon-3 p.m.: Anthony Carrera – handpan percussionist

10/05/2026

Behind every portrait in “In Service” is an artisan devoted to their craft. Meet Barry Jacobs, a sign painter with 23 years of service at the New York City Transit Sign Shop. Before the exhibition was installed, we had the chance to share a sneak peek of his portrait with him.
 
Head to the Grand Central Terminal Dining Concourse to see Barry’s photograph IRL and take in the other worker portraits on view. Learn more about the people and places featured in our exhibition guide on Bloomberg Connects.
 
OR hear directly from the artist and join our Open House New York tour. Christopher Payne will be giving two walkthroughs of the exhibition on Oct 17. Sign up now!

 
NOTE: Meta is incorrectly marking this video as AI content. This video was filmed, produced and edited by the MTA video team.

Set your alarms! Tickets for our Open House New York tours go on sale tomorrow, Friday, October 2, at noon.This year we’...
10/01/2026

Set your alarms! Tickets for our Open House New York tours go on sale tomorrow, Friday, October 2, at noon.

This year we’re offering two kinds of tours that demonstrate the wide range of arts programming accessible throughout the transit system.
 
Art from Grand Central to Times Square
Fri, Oct 16, 1-3 p.m. | Sat, Oct 17, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Go underground to view extraordinary subway art installations with Deputy Directors Yaling Chen and Cheryl Hageman, featuring works by renowned contemporary artists and exclusive insights into their creation and meaning, all while traveling between stations.
 
“In Service: MTA Photographs by Christopher Payne” Artist Walkthrough
Sat, Oct 17, 10-11:30 a.m. | 12-1:30 p.m.
Experience a behind-the-scenes tour of New York’s transit system through the lens of industrial photography, guided by the artist and exhibition curator Maggie Murtha, with insights into the creative process.

Explore the link in our bio to learn more about the tours and sign up tomorrow!

09/22/2026

52 lightboxes. Five stations. And the MTA like you’ve never seen it before!
 
“In Service: MTA Photographs by Christopher Payne” is now LIVE across the system!
 
Arts & Design is proud to launch our first‑ever systemwide photography exhibition. All lightboxes across our photography program are now illuminated with ’s striking behind‑the‑scenes look at the world that keeps New York moving.
 
Granted unprecedented access across the transit system, Payne’s photographs celebrate the MTA’s skilled workers and intricate infrastructure, revealing powerful moments usually hidden from sight. His meticulous images turn repair shops, manufacturing floors, and operational spaces into stunning portraits of expertise, grit, and precision.
 
From Grand Central to Brooklyn, each station installation reveals a different dimension of this complex ecosystem—from bus building to subway car lifecycles to the everyday components and incredible people that keep the system running. Explore the full exhibition on Arts & Design’s Bloomberg Connects guide (link in bio) and see the transit system through a whole new lens!
 
Exhibition locations:
42 St-Bryant Park (B,D,F,M,7)
Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr (B,D,N,Q,R,2,3,4,5)
Bowling Green (4,5)
Grand Central Terminal, Dining Concourse
Grand Central Madison

Stations Series is back from summer break! We’re celebrating National Classical Music Month on Wednesday, September 23 a...
09/21/2026

Stations Series is back from summer break!
 
We’re celebrating National Classical Music Month on Wednesday, September 23 across all five boroughs:

Bronx: Parkchester (6), lower mezzanine 
noon-3 p.m.: Jack Marcin – Spanish classical guitar

Brooklyn: Atlantic Terminal / Atlantic Av–Barclays Ctr, upper mezzanine between (2,3) and (D,N,R)
noon-3 p.m.: Marian Pidvirny – violin 
 
Manhattan: 34 St–Herald Sq, mezzanine above (N,Q,R,W)
noon-3 p.m.: Metropolitan Horn Authority – French horn quartet 
 
Queens: Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Av/74 St, mezzanine above (E,F,M)
noon-3 p.m.: Susan Keser – violin 
 
Staten Island: St. George Ferry Terminal 
noon-3 p.m.: Erik Jacobson – cello

09/21/2026

The ’s newest voice that you’ll be hearing on buses and in subway stations is ! The actress/comedian also read “Lady Liberty” by Nathalie Handal from our Poetry in Motion program while traversing the subway system; give it a listen.  
 
“Lady Liberty” by Nathalie Handal printed with artwork from Olimpia Zagnoli titled “New York View.”
 
This video also features station artwork by Doug & Mike Starn at South Ferry Station, titled “See it split, see it change.”

Brooklyn Book Festival is around the corner on Sunday, September 27! Swing by MTA Arts & Design’s table for Poetry in Mo...
09/18/2026

Brooklyn Book Festival is around the corner on Sunday, September 27! Swing by MTA Arts & Design’s table for Poetry in Motion giveaways and a full day of programming featuring poets Tina Chang, Tracy K. Smith, Naomi Shihab Nye, and many more.
 
Our Poetry in Motion Read & Ride session filled up quickly, but good news! We just opened additional spots so more readers can join in. If you weren’t able to register before, now’s your chance (link in bio).
 
At the festival, we’ll be handing out bookmarks and prints from past Poetry in Motion editions, plus our newest dual-language release of “Harlem Snapshot.” Stop by, pick up some prints, and join the poetry party. See you there!

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re pleased to present our first dual‑language Poetry in Motion. Keep an ey...
09/16/2026

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re pleased to present our first dual‑language Poetry in Motion. Keep an eye out for José Olivarez’s “Harlem Snapshot” and David Ruano González’s Spanish translation, “Instantánea de Harlem.” Paired with Heejung Cho’s artwork from the 85th St–Forest Parkway (J) station, the poem captures a moment of quiet release at the end of a hard day’s work.
 
A collaboration by MTA Arts & Design and 3 a.m, Poetry in Motion appears in print and on screens throughout the MTA system. Enjoy it on your next journey! 
 
Poet: José Olivarez, translation by David Ruano 
Artist: Heejung Cho

Today, on the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, we remember and honor the unimaginable loss of that day and the li...
09/11/2026

Today, on the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, we remember and honor the unimaginable loss of that day and the lives, families, and communities that were changed forever.

As the MTA rebuilt the Cortlandt subway station at Ground Zero, artist Ann Hamilton was commissioned by Arts & Design to create an artwork that would resonate with the site’s history. That work became “CHORUS,” a text-based installation in marble mosaic.

Drawing from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration of Independence, the artwork weaves text throughout the station’s architecture, and the raised surface invites tactile engagement. Words like “everyone,” “equal,” and “rights” repeat across the platforms, forming a field of language that invites the question: what are the words we need to touch and hear now?

In revisiting the making of “CHORUS,” we pay tribute to the care, intention, and belief in shared human capacity that shaped this work and the enduring memory of those whose lives and legacies it quietly holds.

09/09/2026

Bowling Green (4,5) station just got a refresh!

We’ve installed a new vinyl display across eight panels that highlights over 40 years of MTA Arts & Design’s permanent and temporary projects throughout the transit system. Showcasing photographs of the visual art, music, poetry, and digital works that have enlivened stations for decades, this activation celebrates our ongoing commitment to bringing creativity to every commute.

Art everywhere, for everyone!

Artists featured:















and Essex Hemphill

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