The evolution of the MetroArt Consortium collaborations in public transit art programs

This thesis investigates public-private initiatives in U.S. subway arts programs through documentation of national precedents and analysis of a regional program. It provides scholars and practitioners with a further study of administrative, financial, and public relations collaborations in public transit art programs. The first three chapters examine the initiatives put forth by the Federal Government's Department of Transportation and corresponding national subway art program developments. Chapter three provides a case study of Boston's Arts On The Line, the first subway art program in the United States, sponsored in 1978 by DOT and implemented by Cambridge Arts Council in Massachusetts. Chapters four through six evaluate the MetroArt Consortium, a D.C. metropolitan area arts organization, in its inception, development of policy, and implementation of procedure. The MetroArt Consortium collaborated with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and First American Banks to create the first regional subway arts program in the United States. Founded in 1986, the MetroArt Consortium consists of arts administrators from Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, and represents six fine arts jurisdictions in the region. To date, the MetroArt Consortium has administered two successive competitions and temporary installations of art work in selected METRO stations in each jurisdiction, and is planning a third project. The final chapter provides conclusions and recommendations for MetroArt III.