MTA Chairman E. Virgil Conway was joined by American Museum of Natural History President Ellen Futter today to celebrate the renovation of the 81st Street Museum of Natural History station on the B and C line.

This opening represented an unprecedented collaboration between MTA Arts for Transit, which created the new art that is integrated throughout the station, and the Museum. The renovation, which is part of the MTA Capital Program, included new finishes for the walls and floors, new lighting, and a new design for the station entrance that leads directly into the Museum.

MTA Chairman Conway said, "This station renovation is an example of a wonderful partnership between the public and private sector, and we have achieved our joint goal of crating an art project that begins the visitors' museum experience the moment they step off the train."

MTA Arts for Transit's mixed-media installation, "For Want of a Nail," named from an old proverb, addresses the interconnections of concepts that are as vast as the cosmos and as small as a single cell. Using ceramic tile, glass tile, glass mosaic, bronze relief, and granite as primary materials, the design team depicted the evolution of extinct, existing and endangered life forms-from single celled organisms to the towering T-rex dinosaur. It shows images and symbols ranging from the earth's core, to the sea, the sky and the cosmos beyond.

Museum President Ellen Futter said, "The stunning new 81st Street subway station is the result of the scientific inspiration of the museum and the artistic vision of the MTA's Arts for Transit program. In colorful tiles and fossil casts, Arts for Transit has transformed the subway station used by millions annually. The station not only highlights convenience-visitors can enter the Museum directly from the subway-but it offers a striking way to begin a journey around our Earth and out into the Universe. We would like to thank the MTA, New York City Transit, our local elected officials, Community Board 7, and our neighbors for their support of this project."

The collaboration between MTA Arts for Transit and the American Museum of Natural History started in 1998 with a shared vision of creating artwork in the station that would capture the spirit of the Museum. Over the course of two months, Arts for Transit researched the Museums exhibit materials and educational philosophies to conceptualize a design that suited the overall goal of the project.

MTA New York City Transit President Lawrence G. Reuter said, "I am particularly pleased with this station renovation because in addition to the art, the architecture, engineering and construction were all done by New York City Transit employees."

The American Museum of Natural History, since its' founding in 1868, has been one of the world's preeminent institutions of scientific and cultural research and education. Renowned for it's exhibitions, education programs and scientific research, the Museum has 42 permanent exhibition halls, research laboratories, and a collection of 32 million specimens and artifacts. In February 2000, the spectacular new Fredrick Phineas & Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth Space opened to the public: since then, it has been visited by over a million people.

MTA Arts for Transit encourages the use of Public transit by presenting visual and performing arts projects in subway and commuter rail stations.

American Museum of Natural History | Metropolitan Transit Authority | MTA Arts for Transit