Did you get your copy of Sunday New York Times newspaper? Check out the Art & Design section dedicated to artist Shinique Smith. She is also currently working on a beautiful permanent Arts for Transit project involving large-scale mosaic and laminated glass at the Mother Clara Hale Bus Depot in Harlem. Yay Shinique!
Above: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
Check out this great video presenting some of the artists featured in AFT’s new exhibition ONTIME/Grand Central at 100 on view in the New York Transit Museum Gallery in Grand Central Terminal. Artists Jane Greengold, Andrew London, Marcos Chin and Peter Sís and Assistant Director Amy Hausmann speak about the exhibit inspired by the Grand Central and the passage of Time. The show opened just yesterday, and will run until July 7th. Go see it for yourself!
In honor of Armory Arts Week, we have posted podcasts for you to learn more about some wonderful artwork in our collection! Today for SoHo Night, download Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz’s podcast on their installation A Gathering, located throughout the mezzanine of the Canal Street station. After you tour the station, head to Grand Central Terminal for our brand new exhibition, ON TIME/Grand Central at 100, which also features the work of Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz! Check out all the Armory Public Events, including all our highlighted podcasts here.
Limited edition Nick Cave HEARD•NY MetroCards are in machines starting today! Did you get one? Which station? Post a picture of you with yours and tag it #IHEARDNY.
Artist Nick Cave’s HEARD•NY will transform NYC’s Grand Central Terminal March 25–31. Learn more.
The Nick Cave HEARD•NY MetroCards are here!
The installation of AFT’s newest exhibition ONTIME/ Grand Central at 100 has begun! Here is an inside look at the wonderful Lothar Osterburg, artist of the newest AFT subway Art Card Zeppelins in Grand Central, making final tweaks to his fantastical model of Grand Central. Osterburg’s evocative photogravure images based on this model of the famous vaulted space blur the lines between past and present. Come see it for yourself or purchase an Art Card at www.transitmuseumstore.com. The exhibit, which features the work of 18 incredible artists opens March 6, 2013 at the New York Transit Museum Gallery in Grand Central Terminal.
Get ready! Arts for Transit is planning an exquisite new contemporary art exhibition of painting and poetry, video and performance, interactive media and sculpture, in honor of the Centennial of Grand Central Terminal. On Time / Grand Central at 100, curated by MTA Arts for Transit and Urban Design, considers Grand Central as a place where past, present and future come together. Eighteen artists were invited to think about a sense of Time, bending it and exploring what this mythic, iconic place means to all of us. The show features the work of Olive Ayhens, Jim Campbell, Marcos Chin, London Squared, Vik Muniz, Lothar Osterburg, Penelope Umbrico, Peter Sis and many more. Opening March 6th through July 7, 2013 at the New York Transit Museum Gallery at Grand Central Terminal. For more info click here.
Above: Peter Sis, Untitled, 2013.
Did you know? The glass mosaics in Queens Plaza subway station depict the actual City skyline as seen from Queens. The sun in the mosaic marks the location of the former World Trade Center.
For more interesting tips follow nycgov on Foursquare: foursquare.com/nycgov.
Photo Credit: MTA Arts for Transit
This piece, Look Up, Not Down, was created by the wonderful artist Ellen Harvey.
Happy Valentine’s Day from Arts for Transit!
Above: Detail of Jonathan Barlett, Rendezvous, 2011.
Have you seen the newest member of the Poetry in Motion collection? Mary Ruefle is an author of numerous books including the forthcoming book Trances of the Blast due out this year. Her poem Voyage, from an earlier book of hers, Memling’s Veil, is paired with Francesco Simeti’s permanent artwork, Bensonhurst Gardens. Located at the 18th Ave subway station on the D-Line in Brooklyn, this laminated glass work is based on wallpapers, ranging from Renaissance and Baroque garden architecture to hunting. Look for this beautiful poster commissioned by the Poetry Society of America and AFT, the next time you take the subway!
In case you missed last week’s Grand Central Centennial celebration, here is a wonderful video created by ARTINFO featuring Arts for Transit’s permanent artwork throughout the terminal. AFT director, Sandra Bloodworth speaks about the marvelous art, architecture and history of this magical place. Stay tuned to all the Arts for Transit & GCT centennial events here!
Grand By Design, an exhibition celebrating 100 years of Grand Central Terminal, is now open in Vanderbilt Hall! Visit us until 3 pm today. Starting tomorrow the exhibition will be open from 8 am - 10 pm. Guided tours every hour on the half hour from 11:30 am - 7 pm.
Welcome to Tumblr, NY Transit Museum!
On the evening of Grand Central Terminal’s 100th birthday, 135 Improv Everywhere participants staged a surprise performance in the grand windows on the terminal’s west side. Equipped with a variety of LED flashlights and camera flashes, performers appeared suddenly and unannounced along three floors of windows, creating a shower of light for the commuters and tourists below.
Full story: Grand Central Lights | Improv Everywhere
We were so excited to work with Improv Everywhere on this event! Big thanks to everyone involved!
The Grand Central Centennial is just days away! If you are planning on visiting for the celebrations on Friday (or any day for that matter!) take a minute to check out the stunning Sirshasana, by artist Donald Lipski. This sculptural chandelier was created in the shape of a golden-rooted olive tree suspended above the Grand Central Market near Lexington Ave and 43rd Street. Made from aluminum and polyester resin with branches that span twenty-five feet, the tree is covered with 5,000 brilliant crystal pendants that glitter in the morning sunlight. The piece elevates the space, bringing the feel of an outdoor market inside. Lipski drew upon Hindu and Greek lore as an inspiration for this work. “To the ancient Greeks the olive tree symbolized freedom and purity,” he explains. “And the name Sirshasana refers to a yoga headstand posture - the inverted tree…” In addition to alluding to the famous, historic chandeliers found throughout Grand Central, Lipski’s olive tree is a comment on the allure of the exotic and tempting wares sold in the Grand Central market place. Certainly worth taking a look… or better yet a picture!
Above: Donald Lipski, Sirshasana, 1998.
In honor of the Grand Central centennial, we would like to highlight Arts for Transit’s permanent artworkthroughout GCT. First up, artist Ellen Driscoll who referenced the historic constellation ceiling from the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal in her glass, bronze and mosaic relief, As Above, So Below. Located in the Grand Central North passageway, her artwork takes the viewer around the world to the night sky above five different continents, representing myths, civilization, heavens, and the underworld. A close look at any of the faces in the work reveals their diversity, as indeed, the people in these mosaics represent many different backgrounds. However, the artist has altered them to take on the attributes of mythical figures. The work summons the everlasting and the ephemeral, reminding us of our worldly past while we hurry through the station.
Above: Ellen Driscoll, As Above, So Below, 1998.
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