Glass mosaic artwork by Firelei Báez for the 163 St-Amsterdam Av station includes two platform wall murals and two mezzanine level murals, translated into glass mosaic by Mayer of Munich, and creates a lively and lush environment within the station. 

The artwork is steeped in the artist’s Caribbean cultural heritage and that of the neighborhood, with the title being derived from the novel "The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Díaz. Tropical and North American leaves and vines are intertwined with intricate patterns and hand symbols representative of the communities in Washington Heights, incorporating healing imagery familiar to many cultures and inspiring a vision of hope for the future. Ciguapas, powerful feminine figures from Dominican folklore, join passengers on the daily commute. 

Báez’s art functions on many levels to explore the identities of women, myth, tradition, and culture while bringing a unique perspective as a Dominican-Haitian artist. 

Firelei Báez is a Dominican artist based New York City known for intricate works on paper and canvas as well as large scale sculpture. She received an M.F.A. from Hunter College, a B.F.A. from the Cooper Union’s School of Art, and studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Báez was shortlisted for Artes Mundi 9, and in 2021, will be the subject of a solo presentation at the ICA Watershed in Boston. In 2019, the artist had solo exhibitions at the Mennello Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida; the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and the Modern Window at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Her major 2015 solo exhibition, "Bloodlines,: was organized by the Pérez Art Museum Miami and traveled to the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.