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Wings for the IRT: The Irresistible Romance of Travel

Grand Army Plaza (2/3)

Wings for the IRT: The Irresistible Romance of Travel

Jane Greengold
Artwork in bronze and terra cotta by Jane Greengold showing winged figures and train.
“Wings for the IRT: The Irresistible Romance of Travel” (1995) by Jane Greengold at Grand Army Plaza Station. Photo: Fiamma Piacentini

About the project

The bronze and terra cotta art for this station references the triumphal Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch located above the Grand Army Plaza subway station, which celebrates the Union army's victory in the Civil War. Located opposite Brooklyn's Prospect Park, it is topped by a dramatic tableau of two Winged Victories, the ancient symbol of triumph, and four rearing horses leading a chariot carrying the figures of Columbia. The arch is reflected Jane Greengold's “Wings for the IRT: The Irresistible Romance of Travel.” Terra cotta bas relief mosaics of a Winged Victory appear at the base of each of the station's entrance staircases; three bronze Winged Victory plaques and a large terra cotta bas relief mosaic of two Victories leading a subway car also adorn the station. Appropriately, the relief also alludes to the history of the subway system; the first logo for the Interboro Rapid Transit (IRT) was "Flying Wheels," a subway car with wings, and the artwork's title includes the initials of the IRT.

About the artist

Jane Greengold creates visual art in a wide variety of media, both studio work and public commissions. Her conceptual public projects are mostly site-specific and intended to provide a sense of place. She has created permanent public installations and temporary projects for the centennials of the Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central Terminal. For many years she has done an annual temporary site-specific Halloween installation of 100 individually carved pumpkins impaled on a sharply pointed fence in Cobble Hill Brooklyn. In addition to public art projects, Jane continues to make abstract paintings on paper, and abstract and representational work on modules, such as rolling pins, that can be manipulated by the viewer. She also maintains a parallel career as a public interest lawyer.