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Last fall, the MTA announced its intention to “reinvent subway retail locations with arts or cultural spaces.”
That effort has turned into a reality on the Upper West Side: the agency transformed a vacant commercial space by the B and C train platform inside the West 81st Street station into the Sound Booth, a "busking station" for artists, as first reported by I Love The Upper West Side.
The MTA enlisted the help of Art on the Ave, an area nonprofit that turns empty storefronts into art galleries, to complete the project.
“The opportunity came up to make inventive use of empty units within the subway,” Barbara Anderson, the founder of Art on the Ave, says to Time Out New York. “Everything we do is defined by the unit and its context and surroundings so it seemed appropriate for a subway station. We want to provide these musicians with a welcoming safe place to share their talent. At the Sound Booth they get a beautiful little place to play rather than a brick wall.”
The process is a relatively simple one: starting next Monday, interested musicians will be able to schedule rehearsal time on the Art on the Ave and Columbus BID websites.
“We will book musicians but if someone comes by who wants to play or join, we are all about improv too,” explains Anderson.
A representative from the involved organizations will be present during each session to make sure things run smoothly.
“We just ask musicians to be aware of the fact that we are in a public space and that we play to wide range of people from different places and cultures,” says Anderson.
Special events like open mic night, Broadway tunes, battle of the bands and more will also be on the docket.
When asked about the possibility of replicating the very New York-like project across other local subway stations or, perhaps, outside of the town, Anderson is hopeful.
“This is a trial for us,” she says. “Perhaps, if other areas in the city like it, we can try it elsewhere.”