Artist Rico Gatson created "Beacons," a series of eight portraits for the 167 St station. The portraits feature renowned figures of history and culture, sourced from photographs and translated into glass mosaic by Miotto Mosaic Studios. "Beacons" is a celebration of the energy and spirit of individuals who have been influential within the Bronx community, and have received positive acclaim for their cultural, political, and artistic contributions.   

The eight figures highlighted in Gatson’s artwork are Gil Scott-Heron, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Reggie Jackson, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Gatson juxtaposes the black and white portraits with hard-edge geometric lines, using a palette of red, orange, yellow, black, grey, and green, which act as a metaphor for beaming light.  

The portraits radiate with beauty and pride of these influential figures, and invite travelers to reflect on the past as well as find inspiration for the future. The station’s mosaic murals are an extension of Gatson’s earlier “Icons” series, showing new ways to present biography and photography in a contemporary, bold, and graphic way. 

Gatson’s artwork reveals a mix of influences: performance, conceptualism, minimalism and constructivism, which are combined with an interest in history and representation.  

Rico Gatson is a Brooklyn-based mixed media artist working with a multifaceted practice that spans painting, video, sculpture, and installation. Gatson’s striking visual language utilizes iconography from sources such as African textiles and religious icon paintings. His art is influenced by the early twentieth-century geometric compositions of Russian Constructivist propaganda posters, whose creators believed that art should reflect the everyday lives of the people. Reimagining the Black figure’s place in history, the present, and the future, Gatson’s work also evokes Afrofuturism. He frequently combines these inspirations in one canvas, sculpture, video, or mural mosaic to create vibrant geometric compositions underpinned with powerful social commentary, often related to significant moments in Black history. 

He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Bethel College and his Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale School of Art. His work is included in the permanent collections of The Studio Museum in Harlem, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Denver Art Museum, Kempner Museum in Kansas City, Malcolm X Institute in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and Mead Art Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts, among others. He is the recipient of many awards.