Arts on the Line

[5] Artists that were chosen to install works in stations often had disputes with contracts and contractors, and often had problems just getting paid by the MBTA.

Four stations, Harvard, Porter, Davis, and Alewife, were created or remodeled as a part of this mass transit project.

These works comprised the largest collection of art in a United States transit setting, at that time.

[4]: 61  The MBTA was criticized by artists and conservators for failing to maintain artworks: burnt-out light fixtures in Blue Sky on the Red Line and stolen pieces of Glove Cycle were not replaced, Gift of the Wind was not lubricated, and Paul Matisse had to repair Kendall Band himself even though his contract specified that the MBTA would conduct repairs.

[13][14] In 2001, the MBTA began a $2.3 million federally-funded program to install ten new works and restore 21 of the 72 existing pieces.

The centerpiece of the program was Totems of Light, a pair of stained glass windows at the rebuilt Airport station.

[16][17] The Lights at the End of the Tunnel, a large reflective mobile by William Wainwright in the Porter Square station mezzanine, was removed in 1993 due to a lead weight that fell off.

[13] Omphalos, a large outdoors public art sculpture by Dimitri Hadzi, was located at Harvard Square station at the center of a busy intersection.

[18] Structural elements of the sculpture slowly deteriorated unnoticed, until a 1,000-pound (450 kg) piece fell off without warning.

Short of funds and faced with an expensive repair bill, the MBTA considered options to either move or destroy the artwork in August 2013.

[19] By December 2013, the sculpture had been removed, and its ownership had been transferred to a private developer of housing in Rockport, Massachusetts.