Artwork: "New York in Transit" (Jacob Lawrence)

Jacob Lawrence is one of America's leading figurative artists and the first to document the history of African Americans through art. Moving to Harlem in 1924, he experienced the "Harlem Renaissance" and became well known at age 21 for a 41-paiting series depicting the Haitian slave rebellion. Three years later he was the first African American to have a work included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. His later works included 40 panels depicting the life of Harriet Tubman and 60 panels depicting the movement of African Americans from the South to the North following World War I. He became a professor of Art at the University of Washington in 1970, serving until his death in 2000 at age 83. Source: washington.edu.

The installation of "New York In Transit", a glass mosaic mural designed by Mr. Lawrence for the Times Square subway station, coincides with the Whitney Museum of American Arts opening of the most extensive retrospective of his work ever presented. His dramatic Times Square mosaic pays tribute to the diversity and strength of New York City its neighborhoods, cultural life, recreational pleasures, love of sports and, of course, its subway system. The installation is Mr. Lawrence's last public work. Source: mta.info.