Description
Our downtown underground stations - the most densely used public spaces in the city - are utilitarian and uninspiring in form and function. Integrating the arts will transform them into dynamic public hubs that will increase ridership, revitalize neighborhoods, and celebrate and enrich San Francisco’s cultural life.
Art is also fast flourishing in underground transit stations across America. Cities like Boston, Washington D.C., New York City, and L.A. are investing significantly in the underground through arts and design to enhance civic life and draw more people out of their cars and into mass transit.
San Francisco’s subways, which rival all but New York in usage, are not only in need of renovation, but reinvention, to reflect our City’s vibrant arts and cultures.
San Francisco’s rich art legacy not only attracts visitors, but also sustains residents. SubART seeks to build upon this long legacy of integrating the arts into the public infrastructure.
SubART will bolster San Francisco’s development strategies, including the design of the new Central Subway, the renewal of the Market Street corridor, and the remodeling at San Francisco International Airport.
By deploying the city’s artistic energy in the existing underground stations, SubART will highlight San Francisco as a model city for arts-in-transit programs across the country and around the world.
