Did you know that more than 300 permanent works of art adorn the walls and floors of New York City's subway stations, all commissioned by MTA's Art for Transit Program?
Traveling through NYC's subway system often involves glimpsing artwork composed of mosaic, terra cotta, bronze, glass and mixed-media sculpture.
And since MTA Arts & Design is composed of Music Under New York, Graphic Posters, Poetry in Motion, Digital Arts, and the photographic Lightbox Project, you're likely to rock out to a musical performance or slam poem on your way to work in NYC.
The founders of the NYC subway believed in using art to enhance the experience of travel.
That being said, here's 7 of the best pieces of art found throughout the NYC subway system.
1. Times Square
gothamewnyc #timessquare #timessquaresubway #subwayart #mural #colorful #seeyourcity #bigapple #manhattan #nyc #newyork #newyorkcity #newyorkcitysubway #newyorkcityfacts
Roy Lichtenstein designed Times Square Mural in 1994, and its essence captures the spirit of the subway with linear movement and dynamic energy it celebrates both the past and future.
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The future because of the designed bullet shaped train hurtling through Times Square.
2. 231st Street (the Bronx)
At the 231st Street Station in the Bronx, Felipe Galindo designed his Magic Realism in Kingsbridge in 2008.
This beautiful stained glass project was made with faceted glass in platform windscreens, and was created from Galindo's inspiration from his study of Kingsbridge's residents, and his hope that his designed would engage his audience and see their surroundings in a different way.
Galindo said he "sought to discover the unexpected treasures in the neighborhood's life, its diversity, nature, and most of all the power of imagination."
His designs include a tropical island in the Harlem River, and a magical fire escape leading to heaven.
3. Flushing - Main Street (Queens)
doulaalexis No matter how many times I've been to Flushing Main Street, I always see something new 🌈🍜 #flushing #queens #mural #flushingmainstreet #adventuresinflushing #chinatown #nyc
Technically not "in" a subway station, this Queens-centric piece of art is too beautiful to ignore. Right off the 7 line in Flushing, Queens at the Flushing-Main Street Station, you'll find this gem.
Don't miss out next time you're riding through the borough.
4. East 105th Street (Brooklyn)
michael_ingui 105th Street station on the #L-train #michaelingui #MTA #subwayart #abstractpainting #glassart #baxtingui #ingui #mtaartsfortransit
Off the L line on East 105th Street are laminated glass windows in the mezzanine and above the stairs. They're all part of Michael Ingui's project Crescendo.
Ingui was inspired by the architectural design of the 105th Street Station, and sought to capture its energy through Crescendo.
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So he used the windows' green and blue colors to emphasize the station's structural elements.
The lines of the glass panels are in continuous motion like the the trains and their passengers are daily.
,5. Delancey Street - Essex Street
jackyleenyc Another favorite mosaic! #mynyclife #subwayart #lowereastside #delanceyessex #artistlife #nyctransit
Ming Fay created the absolutely stunning artwork at the Delancey - Essex Street station in 2004 as part of her Shad Crossing, Delancey Orchard. Fay meticulously researched the Lower East Side's history, and created watercolor sketches craftsmen then transformed into glass mosaic murals.
The Shad Crossing mosaic delineates the return of shad fish to NYC, and used the image of water as a metaphor for "crossing" (you know, the whole riding the subway thing).
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Delancey Orchard, a mural on the Manhattan-bound platform, was inspired by the DeLancey family for whom the street was named, and their 18th century farm, which stretched from the East River to the Hudson River.
Their farm's cherry orchard was located where Orchard Street is. Fay's memorialized those trees with dazzling mosaic ones on the Brooklyn-bound platform.
6. Prince Street
kafacizimhane Katibim & Mülkiyeli will be waiting for you on Prince Street Stop👀 - 8.15 NY #kafacizimhane #kafa #illustration #streetart #princestreet #stop #metro #subway #soho #newyork #metrostation #ny #nyc #street #onthestreet #graffiti #ottoman #ottomanempire #berilates #art #design
Janet Zweig and Edward Del Rosario designed Carrying On in 2004. It's comprised of almost two-hundred silhouettes lugging stuff, from backpacks to trash bags to pushing a cart.
The artist team designed this silhouettes off individuals moving around the city and in and out of the subway. Zweig and Del Rosario said Carrying On has multiple readings.
"People on the streets of New York are almost always carrying something, sometimes something huge and outlandish. After the 9/11 tragedy, New Yorkers felt that they must carry on with their lives. Finally, New Yorkers are notoriously opinionated and lively; they really do 'carry on'," Zweig and Del Rosario said.
7. 14th Street and 8th Avenue
gazellepaulo back in NYC, the city I love the most; #LifeUnderground by @TomOtterness #tomotternessart #tomotterness #14thstreet #art #beauty #nyc
Tom Otterness sculpted Life Underground in 2001. You've probably seen the little bronze statues frolicking around at the 14th Street Station, lugging coins or perching on the ceiling.
Tom Otterness wanted to use Life Underground to invigorate and transform the subway environment to one of joy and whimsy. One of his sculptures represents an alligator rising out of a sewer to devour a man (as subway folklore says they will).
His other sculptures construct the subway with oversize building tools and sneak under fences to watch construction or sweep up piles of pennies.
Otterness placed them beneath stairs and pillars and hung them from the ceiling so he could surprise and delight riders as they came upon these bronze inhabitants.
Check out Here's a Sneak Peek at Some Stunning Subway Art That's Hidden Four-Stories Below NYC.