Michele Oka Doner's "Radiant Site," at the busy 34 St-Herald Sq subway station, fills a rectilinear floor-to-ceiling passage with golden light. The midsection of the corridor is the brightest, glazed in copper-toned tiles; the tiles grow darker and reflect less light along the top and bottom of the passageway. The result is a gently glowing surface. The artist made the 11,000 tiles one-by-one by hand on a century-old foot-press at the venerable Pewabic Pottery in Detroit. Their slightly irregular shapes and uneven surfaces were then hand-glazed, varying the recipe in tiny increments so as to achieve the desired luminosity. Doner says that she considers not only the physical and chemical properties of the materials she will use but also "their psychic and cosmic qualities." 

Michele Oka Doner is an internationally renowned artist whose work spans five decades. Her artwork is fueled by a lifelong study and appreciation of the natural world. Her artistic production encompasses sculpture, public art, prints, drawings, functional objects, artist books, costume and set design, video, and other media. She has authored or been the subject of eight books.

Oka Doner has received grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the New York State Council of the Arts, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and others; and many awards, including those given by the United Nations Society of Writers and Artists, Pratt Institute “Legends” and an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan, where she received her undergraduate and MFA degrees. Her work can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, the Louvre-Paris, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, as well as in prominent university museum collections. She maintains a studio in New York City.