Artist Christopher Myers has unveiled four glass-tiled mosaic panels at the Church Avenue subway station in Flatbush, Brooklyn, as part of the MTA's Arts & Design collection. Titled "If you don't want your children to know the truth about life don't send 'em to the theater," the mosaics celebrate Flatbush's unsung history as a theater district, drawing on vaudeville and Afro-Caribbean carnival traditions. The work, Myers's first mosaic, features figures like comedian Moms Mobley and stilt walkers from Brooklyn's West Indian Day Parade, and was selected from over 300 submissions in a competitive MTA commissioning process.
This installation matters because it brings high-quality public art into a democratic, everyday space—the subway—where over 10,000 daily riders encounter it. It highlights the MTA's 40-year-old Arts & Design program, which allocates one percent of station renovation budgets for permanent artworks that reflect local heritage. Myers's piece not only honors Flatbush's overlooked cultural legacy but also demonstrates how public transit can serve as a platform for community storytelling and artistic engagement, reaching audiences far beyond traditional museum and gallery settings.