Public Art on Public Transit: Sandra Bloodworth, Director of the MTA Art & Design in conversation with Peter Drake

Sandra Bloodworth is Director of Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts & Design (A&D), the program responsible for visual and performing arts throughout the transit system. Sandra joined MTA Arts & Design as a manger in 1988 and has served as the director for 24 years. She has worked with hundreds of artists through A&D’s permanent art commissions, digital arts, graphic art, photography, poetry, musical performances and special programs, all of which are intended to engage riders, enrich stations, and encourage the use of mass transit.  Under Sandra’s leadership the A&D Percent for Art program has become one of the largest and most diverse collections of public art in the world.

Sandra is a recipient of the Gari Melchers Memorial Medal for furthering the profession of fine arts and was awarded the Fund for the City of New York’s Sloan Public Service Award in recognition of her work in the field of public art.  She is co-author of New York’s Underground Art Museum, published by the Monacelli Press. Sandra is a practicing artist and holds degrees in Art and Arts Education, including a B.S. from Mississippi College, an M.A. from the University of Mississippi and an M.F.A. from Florida State University. She has taught at Florida State University, the University of Mississippi and the Department of Art and Arts Professions graduate program at New York University, and frequently speaks on the topic of art in transit.