Art at Amtrak – NY Penn Station October 2022 Series

6th October 2022

In September 2022, Amtrak unveiled its second series of its installations at New York Penn Station for Art at Amtrak, a year-round public art initiative that brings a variety of visual works to New York Penn Station (NYP) and provides an unparalleled creative platform for New York and New Jersey artists. Building upon the highly successful public art program at Moynihan Train Hall, the rotating temporary installations commissioned for Art at Amtrak further enlivens the hub that serves as the front door to New York City.

Ghost of a Dream (Lauren Was and Adam Eckstrom) installed Aligned by the Sun (Connections), a site-specific new work in their Aligned by the Sun project, for which they asked artists around the world to capture and submit short videos of the sun. Exhibited in the concourse, a location from which one can travel anywhere, Aligned by the Sun (Connections) takes stills from these 223 videos and connects the images via the horizon line to create a continuous landscape that surrounds the Amtrak departure hall and places viewers metaphorically in the center of the planet. Multidisciplinary artist and educator Dennis RedMoon Darkeem created Patchwork Travelers, which draws colors, patterns, and icons such as totems, earth mounds, and the medicine wheel from his dual heritage as ​​an Indigenous and African American into an expansive, visually rich work.

“Art at Amtrak continues to advance our commitment to ensuring all travelers have a modern, inspiring, safe and accessible experience to the cultural capital of the world,” said Sharon Tepper, Amtrak Director, Planning and Development, New York Penn Station. “In its first few months, this initiative has made Penn Station a site for contemporary art that engages visitors from around the world, and we look forward to seeing the station retransformed.”

Over the last five years, Amtrak has made more than $300 million in capital improvement investments at New York Penn Station, in addition to its investment in Moynihan Train Hall. These include a new ticketed waiting area for Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT passengers, new wayfinding and signage throughout the facility, improved accessibility, including renovations of elevators and escalators, and major rail State-of-Good-Repair improvements to enhance the reliability of service.

More information about Art at Amtrak can be found here.