Arts for Transit

It could be New Year’s Eve revelers, veins of a maple leaf, one hundred ravens on a fence or a stack of suitcases; these are all images incorporated into public art you might see while riding the subway in New York City.
Amy Hausmann, the assistant director of the MTA’s Arts for Transit Program, elaborated on these and many other works on Friday night to a good crowd at SPACE Gallery in Portland.
Hausmann’s lively talk was the inaugural event in the Maine Arts Commission’s Public Art Series that celebrates 30 years of the Percent for Art Program. Maine has been funding public art installations at most publicly-funded constructions for thirty years, a few years longer than either the MTA or the City of New York.
It was exciting to see all the possibilities that public art can offer. For more, don’t miss the next lecture, also brought to us by the Portland Arts and Cultural Alliance. Jean Shin, New York-based artist who was commissioned by the MTA for a work, Celadon Remnants, will be speaking Saturday, June 6, at 6 PM at SPACE Gallery.
And for even more, check out the rest of the series!
Photo:Cara Slifka