Museum in Transit: 10 Contemporary Artist in the NYC Subway

Join us for a conversation with author Xhingyu Chen to celebrate the launch of her new book, a critical retrospective of the artists and stories behind the public art installations in our MTA system. The book is set to release June 28th 2026. She will be in conversation with Lester Burg, followed by a signing.

PLEASE NOTE: RSVPs are encouraged but not required. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

Can't attend? (please specify that you would like it signed in the comments box at checkout).

Juxtaposing their public art for the program with their broader oeuvre, Museum in Transit provides mini retrospectives that address how each artist produced artworks with wide appeal while adhering to their personal vision.

Highlighting mosaics, glass panels, sculptures, and installations installed in subway stations and transit hubs throughout the system, the book is a visual journey through an underground museum--one that millions of commuters pass through every day, often without realizing they are surrounded by world-class art.

Here are the artists included in the book:

Firelei Baez, Nick Cave, Jane Dickson, Marcel Dzama, Jeffrey Gibson, Al Loving, Portia Munson, Eamon Ore-Giron, Liliana Porter, Jean Shin.

Xhingyu Chen is an arts writer based in New York. She has been writing about contemporary art for two decades. A native New Yorker, she lived in Shanghai for over an decade, where she covered the local art scene for publications like the New York Times, Art Asia Pacific, Sculpture Magazine, Yishu Journal, and Nukta Art. Her first book, Chinese Art: New Media 1990 - 2010, was published in 2011. She continues to explore and write about art in the New York subway syster on her Instagram, @ride_the_museum. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two art-loving kids.

Lester Burg is a career public art advocate and cultural practitioner. He was Deputy Director at the New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts & Design, the largest public art initiative in the country. During his tenure, Burg managed and performed curatorial guidance on projects from the artist selection phase to fabrication and installation. He worked with such artists as Jean Shin, Firelei Baez, Xenobia Bailey, Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Vik Muniz, Joyce Kozloff, James Little, Duke Riley and Yoko Ono. From 2016-2019, he served as the Chair of the Public Art Network Council of Americans for the Arts, a national policy making and advisory group of public administrators. He was a member of the Kingston NY Art Commission and the Four Freedoms Park nominating committee. Burg acts as a public art consultant and divides his time between the Catskills and Brooklyn.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Rizzoli Bookstore, 1133 Broadway, New York, United States

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