Former MTA Arts & Design Director Sandra Bloodworth Receives 2024 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award

Award Recognizes Individuals Who Have Made a Lasting Contribution to New York City

More Than 370 Permanent Artworks Commissioned Under Bloodworth's Leadership

View Photos of Awards Ceremony

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that the Municipal Art Society of New York awarded the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal, the organization's highest honor, to Sandra Bloodworth, who stepped down in September after serving as director of MTA Arts & Design for 28 years. The award was presented by Ronay Menschel, former MTA board member and founder of the MTA Arts & Design program. The recognition honors individuals who, through vision, leadership, and philanthropy, have made a lasting contribution to New York City. Spearheading installation of over 370 permanent works of museum-quality public art in the transit system, Sandra Bloodworth received the 2024 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award, alongside Yoko Ono and Patti Smith.

"All of us at MTA have long known that Sandra Bloodworth is a legendary talent, responsible for curating much of the incredible art, poetry and music in the transit system over the last three decades," said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. "It's only right that she's recognized with the Municipal Art Society 's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award alongside other New York icons like Patti Smith and Yoko Ono."

"Receiving the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal from the Municipal Art Society is a testament to the monumental tasks accomplished with my colleagues at MTA Arts & Design over the past four decades in creating what is now affectionately known as New York's Underground Art Museum - a collection of over 400 permanent works of art by diverse artists that spark joy and magic and are a beloved part of the commute for millions of riders daily," said former MTA Arts & Design Director Sandra Bloodworth.

"Sandra has brought world-class art to millions of New Yorkers, enriching the cultural fabric of this city and the region," said MTA Deputy Chief of External Relations Juliette Michaelson. "With more than 400 permanent public artworks in the MTA Arts & Design program, her influence will have a lasting impact on New York and beyond. The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal is a fitting tribute to Sandra's remarkable contributions to the region."

"The Municipal Art Society of New York is thrilled to celebrate Sandra Bloodworth and her enormous contributions to New York City with the 2024 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal," said President of the Municipal Art Society of New York Elizabeth Goldstein. "Sandra championed art and design throughout the subway system through the agency's transformative Arts & Design program since the 1980's. It is no exaggeration to say that her work in bringing more than 400 world-class art works to subway stations has brought joy and delight to the daily commutes of millions of New Yorkers."

"Sandra has effectively harnessed the power of art - with music, poetry, posters, car cards and the station program - to make our transit environment more welcoming, comfortable, and respectful to its riders," said former MTA Board Member and founder of MTA Arts & Design Ronay Menschel. "The artwork has become increasingly sophisticated and transformative over the years - a feast for the eyes! The program's success is surely tied to the fact that the artists being engaged reflect the diversity of the communities being served. Under Sandra's leadership, the program has achieved a level of gender and racial diversity that far exceeds most major museums, with 68% of artists commissioned being women and/or people of color."

Sandra Bloodworth joined the MTA in 1988 and served as Director of MTA Arts & Design from 1996 up until her retirement in September 2024. Over three decades, she shepherded countless works of permanent art installed across subway and rail stations including those by Nick Cave, Elizabeth Murray, Yoko Ono, Jacob Lawrence, Ann Hamilton, Firelei Baez, Vik Muniz and Alex Katz.

More recently, in 2022, Kiki Smith and Yayoi Kusama unveiled floor-to ceiling mosaics in the new 700,000-square-foot Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) terminal, Grand Central Madison - the largest passenger rail terminal to be built in the country in 67 years and one of the largest transportation infrastructure projects in the United States in recent years. From the beginning of the design phase of this terminal, Bloodworth was very involved in envisioning the space for art and worked with the architect in the early 2000s.

Bloodworth played a prominent role in the reconstruction of Cortlandt Street station post 9/11, commissioning Ann Hamilton's inspirational CHORUS, which stands as a testament to resilience and hope. Hamilton created a mosaic weaving in marble using words from the preamble to the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

Bloodworth's contributions to New York's transportation network extend beyond the permanent art program. In 2020, Sandra created and led the creative efforts of TRAVELS FAR, a memorial dedicated to MTA employees lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Built around photographs shared by family members, the memorial appeared as an eight-minute video on 138 three-panel digital screens at 107 subway stations.

Additionally, MTA MUSIC (Music Under New York) is a program administered by MTA Arts & Design and consists of over 350 performers bringing a wide variety of live music across the transit system, further enhancing the passenger journey. The Photography program showcases the work of primarily New York-based photographers; large scale lightboxes enliven subway passageways and the underground environment with bright, vivid photographs, and exhibitions rotate periodically. The Digital Art program presents art in digital form and introduces new media artists to public space and transit customers through an immersive experience.

In 2013, Bloodworth resurrected the beloved Poetry in Motion program, in collaboration with the Poetry Society of America. In 2016, she co-led a major design initiative to establish a new vision to bring aging transit stations into the twenty-first century through new material choices and smart industrial design elements which transformed stations into more functional spaces and provided a more pleasant user experience. Her involvement in architectural and industrial design issues have resulted in new design standards, and colors and material choices familiar to millions of riders. She has balanced being a voice for historic preservation with an interest in innovation. She was instrumental in the aesthetic design of contemporary subway cars, and the ubiquitous MetroCard vending machine.

Bloodworth has co-authored three books on the transit system's public art collection, most recently Contemporary Art Underground, released in 2024. She is the former Vice President of the Design and Culture Platform for Union Internationale des Transports Public (UITP) and co-led the creation of current public art standards for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). She is the recipient of the Sloan Public Service Award and the Gary Melchers Award from the Artist's Fellowship.

About the Municipal Art Society's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal

The Medal is awarded annually to individuals who, through vision, leadership, and philanthropy, have made a lasting contribution to New York City. The Medal was established in 1994 to honor Mrs. Onassis, her passionate efforts to preserve great architecture in New York City, and her remarkable partnership with the Municipal Art Society over nearly two decades- including the campaign that saved Grand Central Terminal from demolition.

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