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Arts on the Line was a program devised to bring art into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)'s subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Arts on the Line was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country. The first twenty artworks were completed in 1985 with a total cost of US$695,000, or one half of one percent of the total construction cost of the Red Line Northwest Extension, of which they were a part.
Contents
After the first 20 artworks were installed, Arts on the Line continued facilitating the installation of artwork in or around at least 12 more stations on the MBTA as well as undertaking a temporary art program for stations under renovation, known as Artstops.
Background and history
In 1964, the MBTA was created as the successor to the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The purpose of the MBTA was to consolidate transit systems in greater Boston.
Before Arts on the Line was implemented, the MBTA did not have a comprehensive or formal arts program. The process for choosing station art was closed, with no public announcement or solicitation to local artists, creating a sort of resentment within the arts community. Artists that were chosen to install works in stations often had issues with contracts and contractors, and often had severe issues with just getting paid by the MBTA. Arts on the Line began with the planning of the Red Line Northwest Extension. four stations, Harvard, Porter, Davis, and Alewife, were created or remodeled as a part of this mass transit project. In 1977, The MBTA received a USD$45,000 grant from the Federal Government's Urban Mass Transportation Administration to create a program to install artworks into the new stations, and in 1978 the MBTA and the Cambridge Arts Council (CAC) joined in a partnership to reach this goal.
The Arts on the Line program was developed solely by the CAC and was administered by them as well. Meant to be a response to art installations in subway systems such as the Stockholm Metro, Paris Métro, Montreal Metro, and Moscow Metro, the new Arts on the Line program became the United States' first arts in transit program, and was to be a "pilot for similar projects in other U.S. cities".
Selection process
From 1979-1980, The Cambridge Arts Council, who was charged with choosing the artworks, went though the artist selection process and selected twenty artworks, five for each station. To select the works, an "arts committee" was formed for each of the stations, and an open call to artist was created. In total over 650 artists submitted proposals.
There were between 10 and 15 people sitting on each selection committee. Each committee had at least one of each of the following: MBTA representatives, community development representatives, members of local historical societies, local residents and business representatives and an arts administrator.
Each committee had two subgroups, an "advisory board" and an "art panel". The advisory board was tasked with collecting information about the future station and its surroundings. This included design of the station, history of the area and a profile of future station users. This information was passed along to the art panel, composed of three people: an artist, an art professional from outside of Massachusetts, and someone who lived near the future station. This panel was the group that actual chose the artworks.
A seven step process was devised to create a "systematic selection precess which would, nevertheless, provide flexibility". The steps were as follows:
- Meetings with art committee
- Meetings with art panel, MBTA, architect, and review of "Artbank"
- Method for artist selection
- Open competition
- Limited competition
- Invitation
- Direct Purchase
- Artists develop proposals
- Artists presentations
- Art committee discusses proposals
- Art panel makes decision
After the placement of 20 artworks in the four stations of the Northwest Extension, the program expanded to include the creations of artworks in or around at least 12 more stations on the MBTA.
Artwork
In 1985 the first 20 artworks installed under the Arts on the Line program were unveiled. These works composed the largest collection of art, in a United States transit setting, at the time. The total cost of the artworks was $695,000 USD, or one half of one percent of the total construction cost of the Red Line Extension, and was funded partially by a $70,000 USD National Endowment for the Arts grant.
The works were almost exclusively made with durable materials, stone, bronze, brick, etc., and many were placed so that it was physically impossible to reach them without assistance. This was to avoid normal wear and tear as well as vandalism. The works are designed to last 75 years per City of Cambridge standards for public art.
The following is a list of the first 20 artworks created for Arts on the Line, which were all installed along the Red Line Northwest extension.
† This artwork is no longer installed at the station
ArtStops
After completing the installation of artwork on the Red Line Extension, the program continued in other forms. In 1986, Arts on the Line began a program titled "ArtStops" with the goal of providing artwork to stations under renovation as a way to distract riders from the mess and confusion of the renovation work. The MBTA installed temporary galleries in six subway stations; Central, Park Street, Kendall, Washington Street, Street, and Essex (Chinatown) stations, which were all undergoing renovations in the mid-80s. These galleries hosted temporary works for 18 months, and each temporary gallery was allotted US$20,000 to spend on art. In total 21 artists were chosen, each one being given a $3500 stipend to develop and create up to three projects for the station. A subway rider at Harvard station stated, "It's worth coming down to the T just for the art".
Documentation
The MBTA maintains an online catalog of the over 90 artworks installed along its six major transit lines. Each downloadable guide is illustrated with full-color photographs, titles, artists, locations, and descriptions of individual artworks.
Removal of artworks
In 1993, The Lights at the End of the Tunnel, a large reflective mobile by William Wainwright in the Porter Square station mezzanine was removed, due to a lead weight that fell off. The location and status of the artwork is unknown as of April 2015.
Since 1985, Omphalos, a large outdoors public art sculpture by Dimitri Hadzi, marked Harvard Square station at the center of the busy intersection. Structural elements of the sculpture slowly deteriorated unnoticed, until a 1,000-pound (450 kg) piece fell off without warning. Short of funds and faced with an expensive repair bill, the MBTA considered options to either move or destroy the artwork in August 2013. By December 2013, the sculpture had been removed, and its ownership had been transferred to a private developer of housing in Rockport, Massachusetts. The developer plans to restore and re-install it on a public harbor walk near a new development, with the approval of the artist's widow.