Arts on the Line

An exterior view of Alewife station, the location of six of the original twenty works commissioned by Arts on the Line

Arts on the Line was a program devised to bring art into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Arts on the Line was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country.[1] The first twenty artworks were completed in 1985 with a total cost of US$695,000, or one half of one percent of the total construction cost of the Red Line Northwest Extension, of which they were a part.[2]: 5 

After the first 20 artworks were installed, Arts on the Line continued facilitating the installation of artwork in or around at least 12 more stations on the MBTA as well as undertaking a temporary art program for stations under renovation, known as "Artstops". Artworks are included in the six new Green Line Extension stations as well.[1]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference globe2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Red Line Northwest Extension. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. May 3, 1985 – via Internet Archive.