Friday, April 15, 2022 – LOOK UP FROM YOUR PHONE AND CHECK OUR AMUSING ART
https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2022/04/19/rihs-lecture-backstory-long-island-city-gantries
FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2022
The 650th Edition
New Artwork in Transit
TRANSIT ART AND DESIGN
Through the Graphic Art Program, MTA Arts & Design commissions five to six artists each year to create transit-related artwork for Poster and Art Card production.
The popular Graphic Art poster program was established in 1991 to celebrate the diverse communities that make up the New York region. The commissioned work by painters, printmakers, and illustrators touches upon transit-related subjects and the places that can be discovered using the mass transit system. Posters are randomly displayed in unused advertising space on subway platforms throughout the 472 subway stations and on subway cars and buses. Printed posters are available for sale to the public through the New York Transit Museum Stores. Revenue from sales from the posters help to support the educational and exhibition programs at the non-profit museum.
The program offers illustrators and other artists the opportunity to reach a broader public, and provides the public exposure to incredible artists and visionaries who create a respite of engaging visual art.
The posters are available for purchase at the New York Transit Museum Store.
Feifei Ruan, “City Spirit,” 2021
Wenjia Tang, “Full Speed Ahead,” 2021
Sally Vitsky, “Morning Commute with Paper,” 2021
Jason Hoffman, “Travel Time,” 2021
Frank Morris, “I am the Next,” 2021
About Digital art viewed from a multitude of display screens creates an immersive experience that engages transit customers with an impactful visual moment. MTA’s digital media network offers new opportunities to present art in digital form and introduce new media artists to public space and the MTA ridership. In November 2014, Arts & Design launched the Digital Art program in the digitally integrated Fulton Center Complex, which connects to 11 subway lines and the World Trade Center PATH station. The digital display network in Fulton Center has 52 screens on various levels, illuminating and transforming the Center into a welcoming contemporary environment. These range from 55-inch LCD screens that line the passageway on the mezzanine concourse level, to the massive LED walls measuring 31.5 feet by 18.9 feet at street level. Presented by MTA Arts & Design with technical support from Westfield Properties and ANC Sports, the 52-channel digital artwork can be seen for two minutes at the top of each hour simultaneously in the Fulton Center complex. Digital artwork can also be seen throughout the MTA system.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Vantage Points
Patrick Cashin
About the project Patrick Cashin’s images in the photography exhibition on view at the Bowling Green station offer a glimpse into the singular perspective of an individual who spent 20 years immersed in every aspect of the transit system, visually documenting MTA locations, projects, and milestones. The seven large-scale photographs in this exhibit trace Cashin’s photographic journey, from his ascent to the highest points of the city’s bridges to the green pastures of the Metro-North Railroad region. “Vantage Points” is a special opportunity to showcase Cashin’s distinct photographic eye and unique subject matter in a public space. Some of his most striking images come from the quiet moments with nature, like the graceful arch of the Henry Hudson Bridge framed by the fall leaves of Inwood Hill Park, or views from areas of the system that were off-limits to most people, like the top of the Brooklyn Tower of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, where he captured an intimate encounter with a falcon. In describing his experience climbing atop the 138th Street Bridge, something usually reserved for maintenance workers, he said, “I took my time there because I knew I probably wasn’t going to get up there again.” Cashin approached each scenario not just as a documentary opportunity but also by artfully bringing a human connection and two decades of experience to each image, capturing the details, climate, and environment of his surroundings. The exhibition was generously sponsored by Griffin Editions and Kodak Professional.
About the artist
Patrick Cashin was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Automotive High School. His interest in photography began while in the U.S. Navy, after which he joined Newsweek magazine, where he worked for 16 years, photographing worldwide. Cashin was the esteemed staff photographer for the New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) from 2000-2020. His photography has appeared in countless publications such as the New York Times, The Sunday Times, New York Daily News, The Weekly Flickr, Channel 13’s Metro Focus, and MTA brochures and ads.
MORE IMAGES FROM THIS EXHIBIT ARE AVAILABLE:
https://new.mta.info/agency/arts-design/collection/vantage-points
FRIDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
SEND ANSWER TO ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM
THURSDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
HUDSON-ATHENS LIGHTHOUSE, HUDSON, NY
Current Structure: Construction began in 1873, light was lit in 1874
Former Structures: None
Other Names: Hudson City Lighthouse
Owning Organization: Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society
Location: Center-east side of the Hudson River, just south of the Middle Ground Flats, between Athens, NY and Hudson, NY.
SUSAN RODETIS, ALEXIS VILLAFANE, LAURA HUSSEY GOT IT RIGHT.
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
MTA Arts & Design
Sandra Bloodworth
Director
RIHS (C) FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Copyright © 2022 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com
Leave a comment