The MTA, Arts & Design has open calls for artists, posted on their website frequently. Some are for musicians, or photographers for their slide boxes in stations, but the one that interested me most are the open calls for art on subway platforms. It is called "Percent for Art", every time they renovate a station 1% of the cost is designated to the artwork at the station. They put out an open call on their website, collect samples of artists work and share them at a community meeting to vote on a few artists to choose from. Once chosen in the first group you are asked to do a presentation of how the art would appear in their template, you receive a payment for this effort. This open call is for professional artists and is quite competitive.
My station is at 105 Beach Station, Rockaway NY. Completed in faceted glass and epoxy by the fabricator Erskin Mitchell, based in Baton Rouge. The MTA dictates what material will be used and will provide a list of fabricators that they have previously worked with to choose from. You then work closely with the fabricator, giving them your designs; they come back with "cartoons" creating a template of how the work will translate into the medium. You then work with an appointed MTA person to finalize it. The fabricator then takes over in the creation, delivery and install, along with a MTA point person. The contract is daunting, but mine was completed without a hitch. Before signing the contract I checked in with another artist who had a completed a platform in similar material as min. I voiced my concerns and she responded positively, so I moved forward and signed the contract. Another art experience to add to my artillery.
More photos from the platform can be seen here: MTA 105 Beach Street art
Cheers! Callie CallieArt.com
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