Key Highlights
- Nina Boesch has been creating art out of MetroCards for 25 years.
- On December 31, the MTA stopped selling MetroCards in favor of tap-and-go omny system.
- Boesch’s work includes depictions of Lady Liberty, Yankee Stadium, and Pizza Rat.
- The phaseout could lead to increased interest in Boesch’s art due to nostalgia for MetroCards.
The Artist Who Turned Subways into Masterpieces
In 1994, when the MetroCard made its debut, many New Yorkers were reluctant to say goodbye to the familiar token. The swipe required a certain finesse, as The Times once advised: “Swinging your hand at the turnstile as if it were ‘a slow tennis ball coming your way’.” Now, with the MTA’s decision to fully replace MetroCards with tap-and-go omny systems on December 31st, this art form is facing an uncertain future.
A Brooklyn Artist’s Legacy
Enter Nina Boesch, a Brooklyn-based artist who has spent two and a half decades transforming the flimsy yellow-and-blue plastic cards into intricate collages. “My first thought was, Oh, no. Oh, shit!” she said in her Greenpoint studio. The panic soon gave way to a moment of clarity: “There was an opportunity to explore this new phase.” Boesch, who trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, uses scissors and creativity to snip cards into pieces, reassembling them into depictions of cultural icons such as Lady Liberty, Yankee Stadium, Andy Warhol, Derek Jeter, and even Pizza Rat.
Her work has caught the attention of notable figures.
Michael Bloomberg, Itzhak Perlman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Martin Scorsese each own one of Boesch’s pieces. A few years ago, she was commissioned by a Hollywood A-lister to create a four-foot rendition of the R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth as a surprise gift for his father, who had taken the ship when immigrating to the United States.
From Litter Control to Art
The venture began as an exercise in litter control. In 2001, Boesch said, “I was a naïve twenty-two-year-old from Germany, and I thought I could help the city a little bit by clearing up the stations. In Germany, you have to recycle.
It’s a law.” She went on, “So I’d go around picking MetroCards up from the floor, and people would give me weird looks. Once, a station attendant came out of his booth and confronted me—he thought I was going to sell swipes. This was before mobile phones, so I couldn’t exactly show him what I had in mind.” Over the years, she has collected an extensive archive of fare cards, including historical footnotes like the 2012 Olympics announcement.
A Future Uncertain
With the phaseout, Boesch is hopeful that her art will become more valuable as people become nostalgic for MetroCards. “I think people will be nostalgic about MetroCards for a long time, and if anything, my art will probably become more valuable,” she said. Her existing card stash is likely to last her twenty to thirty years. As for her own commute, Boesch prefers walking.
Despite the end of an era, Nina Boesch remains optimistic about the future of her craft. The transition from swipe to tap-and-go may just open up new avenues for artistic expression in New York City’s bustling subways.
