Don’t Miss It: 75 Years of SVA’s Subway Posters Exhibition

If you’re in NYC before October 14, find a moment to duck over to the SVA Chelsea Gallery, where you’ll find a one-of-a-kind exhibition featuring 208 posters by 93 artists from SVA’s iconic Subway Poster Collection.

“Underground Images: A History” celebrates the longest-running—and arguably, most delightful—advertising campaign in the history of the Metropolitan Transit Authority, North America's largest and most storied transportation network. And don’t just take it from us—the show also picked up coverage from the folks over at The New York Times and The Guardian.

The current exhibition, part of SVA’s 75th anniversary celebrations, features multimedia installations, progress sketches and paintings, and even a recreated subway platform. Francis Di Tommaso, director of SVA Galleries, shared with The Guardian that these posters are meant to grab you by the lapels and snag your attention: “That’s what we do here. This is our product. We make artists.”

Back in the early days, following SVA’s founding in 1947 as the Cartoonists & Illustrators School, the posters also helped get word out about the school’s fledgling existence. Now, appreciation for these posters has spread far beyond five boroughs; since 2006, a traveling version of the exhibition has touched down in galleries in Jamaica, Uruguay, Serbia, India, and elsewhere.

Plan Your Visit:
SVA Chelsea Gallery, 601 West 26th Street, 15th floor, NYC
Monday through Saturday, 10:00am–6:00pm EST
Of course, we recommend getting there by subway 🚇 🎨
Exhibition Website

The exhibition includes a recreated subway platform.

Newly arrived SVA graduate students enjoying the exhibition.