The MTA Arts & Design program is being heralded as a leader in gender diversity in both musuem-based and public art collections. A longtime member of Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Network, MTA Arts & Design has a 48 percent representation of female artists in thier public art collection compared to a representation of 13 percent from top museums across the U.S.

From the article:

As an arts institution, how do you build a collection that comes within reach of gender parity? Well, if you’re MTA Arts & Design, you have it figured out, with 48% composed of female artists. This self-described “underground museum” is the organization responsible for the public artworks—mosaics, sculptures, photo light boxes, and more—in hundreds of subway stations across New York City. With roughly 8.7 million riders a day, the MTA serves New York in all its cultural complexity, and as a result its arts-focused arm has a duty to reflect the city’s makeup. But when I asked its director Sandra Bloodworth how they did it, her answer was a surprise: “It just happened—it’s a byproduct of the process,” she said.

In an art world now waking up to egregious gender inequality, the “collection” of artist commissions spearheaded by the organization is exceptional in that it is almost half female. Though this statistic is slightly out of step with the city’s population (which was 53% female as of the last census), it is a far cry from the 13% representation in the collections of the top 18 US museums. The story of how New York City’s subway system has become one of the most gender balanced public institutions in the country, however, is more interesting than numbers. “We are creating [the art] for our riders,” Bloodworth, who has led the organization since 1996 says, and “without compromise, New York City deserves the best art.”

The selection panels that choose commissions have not explicitly made diversity their aim, but rather are in the business of choosing the best proposal for the specific project at hand. Each commission is considered on a case by case basis, and MTA Arts & Design does not have a quota to fill or a government issued directive to which to adhere. Equality is simply a natural byproduct of their process.

Image credit: “Strata” by Katy Fischer, commissioned by MTA Arts & Design, 2017. Selected as part of the Innovative Transit Stations projects highlighted in the 2018 PAN Year in Review. Photo by Peter Peirce.