For Want of a Nail

Artist: MTA Arts & Design Collaborative (Arts for Transit Collaborative)

Status: In Situ

Title: For Want of a Nail (mosaics)

Dates: 2000

Medium: Glass and ceramic mosaic, handmade ceramic relief tile, hand-cast glass, bronze, and cut granite

Dimensions: varies

Description: A series of figural mosaics inspired by the displays at the Museum of Natural HIstory. 

Owner: Metropolitan Transit Authority, New York, New York

Located 81st Street-Museum of Natural History Subway Station, B and C lines

Remarks: Created by a collaborative team of artists, this series of mosaics, made with a diverse array of materials, reflects the range and diversity of offerings featured at the Museum of Natural History, located directly above the subway station. The work specifically highlights ten key disciplines foundational to the museum’s collections, research, and programming: anthropology, astronomy, earth and planetary sciences, entomology, herpetology, ichthyology, invertebrates, mammalogy, ornithology, and vertebrate paleontology. The title of the work references a proverb, and is intended to encourage viewers to question how the world is interconnected, and how nature is ever-changing and evolving.

References: Bloodworth, Sandra and William Ayres, New York’s underground Art Museum: MTA Arts & Design, New York: Monacelli Press, 2014, 68.