MTA Arts & Design

Hunters Point

Tricia Keightley

Hunters Point Avenue Project, 2012

Glass Mosaic

Installed on the wall of the station’s Manhattan bound platform, Hunters Point Avenue Project by artist Tricia Keightley merges elements of Hunters Point’s industrial past with its future, in her composition that creates a machine of her imagination.

Fabricated in glass mosaic by Miotto Mosaic Art Studios, the artwork features contemporary and historic turnstiles in the form of radiating flowers. The radiating form on the left is built of a multitude of modern turnstiles symbolizing the act each rider makes when entering and exiting the station. The form on the right is comprised of the turnstiles used in 1916 when the station first opened. Together, they reflect almost a century of service the station has provided.

Additionally, the industrial elements, attaching to the two “spinning” forms, represent the whirring machines that gave this former manufacturing district its character. The form at right is bursting through the frame, symbolizing the future of the neighborhood which is evolving rapidly into a sophisticated urban community. To the artist, the lines escaping the frame are “offshoots” representing the future of the subway. This future will include Wifi as well as new stations that will literally take us in new directions.

Although the background may seem abstract, historical references were included that riders may decipher as they pass by. Handholds, rivets, ironwork, and the No. 7 lines extracted from the subway map have all become the visual elements in the work. Although the actual references to these forms may be concealed, a frequent rider will unravel these visual puzzles. Hunters Point Avenue Project is an imaginary machine honoring an industrial past and fueled by Hunters Point’s promising future.