Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Chuck Close Making $1 Million Murals For The Second Avenue Subway
By
Garth Johnston
Published May 14, 2012
Modified May 14, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Garth Johnston
Published May 14, 2012
Modified May 14, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The never ending Second Avenue Subway project has announced that famous local artist Chuck Close is going to be making a massive series of permanent mosaics for the subway line's 86th Street station. All in all the mosaics will bring about 1,000 square feet of art to the subway—at a cost of roughly $1 million, according to the MTA's Arts for Transit program. Luckily, the station is supposed to have an elevator—so the famously wheelchair-bound artist can see his work in action.
And Close, whose downtown studio would be off the Second Avenue Subway if it ever made it that far, seems genuinely excited about the prospect. He told the Times, "My work has always had a mosaiclike quality to it, so it’s not such a stretch. The idea is to reflect the riding population: old people, young people, people of color, Asians. I’m going to do as many as 12 separate mosaics, mainly from pictures of artists I’ve taken over the years." Each of Close's mosaics will be 10 feet high and will be distributed around the station.
Meanwhile, as DNAinfo points out, Close isn't the only one closing in on the new line. Arts For Transit has a $5 million budget to dress up the Second Avenue stations, and has already announced two other artists working on the project. Sculptor Sarah Sze is set to to install "an intricate work of drawings on ceramic tiles spanning nearly two blocks long at East 96th Street" and artist Jean Shin is making a site-specific work for the station at East 63rd Street that uses archival photos from the NY Historical society and the Transit Museum to reference the old Second Avenue Elevated lines. Still to be announced? An artist for the East 72nd Street station.
Can't wait? Instead of holding your breath we'd recommend playing around on the Arts for Transit permanent art website—because the Second Avenue Subway isn't expected to be open until December 2016. At the earliest.
Tagged
arts for transit
chuck close
MTA
second avenue subway
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
Gothamist went behind the scenes to learn how the NYC landmark keeps its majestic waters flowing.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 23, 2026
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
We dropped by WNYU to see what the next generation of radio DJs is up to. The answer is "Br00tal Beats To Study/Relax To."
By
James Ramsay
Arts & Entertainment
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
We dropped by WNYU to see what the next generation of radio DJs is up to. The answer is "Br00tal Beats To Study/Relax To."
By
James Ramsay
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
By
Hannah Frishberg
A new film invites you to eavesdrop on one of the greatest conversations in NYC history
By
Sonia Rao
The Knicks are NBA champions. Now they have to start dressing the part.
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .