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Subway Therapy collection

Call Number

MS 3025

Date

2016, inclusive

Creator

Chavez, Matthew

Extent

1 Linear feet in one record carton

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The collection includes about 5,600 of the approximately 20,000 sticky notes from artist Matthew "Levee" Chavez's work Subway Therapy. The work was initiated by Chavez on 9 November 2016 and it ended on 16 December 2016. The work consisted of notes posted by individuals to the wall of the New York City subway station at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street, expressing their emotions in response to the U.S. presidential election held on 8 November 2016, won by Donald J. Trump.

Biographical/Historical Note

On Tuesday, 8 November 2016, Americans elected the Republican Party candidate, Donald J. Trump, to succeed Barack Obama as President of the United States. Trump's victory over Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton was a surprise, even a severe disappointment, for many Americans, including for residents of New York City who had voted heavily in favor of Clinton.

On the day after the election, artist Matthew "Levee" Chavez initiated a project by which New Yorkers could express their emotions about the election result. He took sticky notes (e.g., Post-its) and pens into the Metropolitan Transit Authority's subway station at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street, and posted the invitation to"Express Yourself" on the tiled walls. On that day and for weeks after, thousands of people did express themselves on the small sticky notes, eventually filling long ranges of the subway station wall, stretching to Union Square.

By mid-December, the initial impulse for the project had run its course and the size of the constantly growing work had made it unsustainable at a major transportation point. Consequently, the artist chose to end the project, removing about 20,000 notes on 16 December 2016. In doing so, by prior arrangement he worked with New-York Historical Society conservator Alan Balicki to preserve about 5,000 of the notes for donation to N-YHS.

For more information, see the artist's website: www.subwaytherapy.com, which includes links to the press coverage about the project.

Arrangement Note

There is no particular arrangement to the sticky notes, that is, how they are found in the container does not necessarily reflect their original relationship to one another on the subway wall.

Scope and Contents Note

The Subway Therapy collection includes about 5,600 of the approximately 20,000 sticky notes posted in the Sixth Avenue at 14th Street subway station between 9 November and 16 December 2016 in connection with artist Matthew "Levee" Chavez's work Subway Therapy. The bulk of the notes came from one section of the wall, which the artist identified to the N-YHS conservator removing the slips as one of the earliest sections to be posted. A small number of other notes along the wall were individually selected for inclusion by a N-YHS museum curator.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation Note

This collection should be credited as follows: Subway Therapy concept and curation by Matthew "Levee" Chavez, www.subwaytherapy.com (MS 3025, New-York Historical Society).

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition Note

Donated by the artist, Matthew "Levee" Chavez, in December 2016.

Related Archival Materials Note

As a follow-on to Matthew Chavez's Subway Therapy project and to his donation of a portion of the work to New-York Historical, N-YHS implemented a similar project on its front glass wall, titled Messages for the President-Elect. Those sticky notes are available; see call number MS 3027.

Chavez's work inspired similar projects in other parts of the country. One such project was implemented by the third grade of the Brooklyn Friends School. N-YHS holds that collection as well; see call number MS 3026.

Collection processed by

Larry Weimer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:51:16 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information Note

The individual sticky notes/Post-its that make up the collection were housed on plastic sheets and in archival trays by conservator Alan Balicki in April 2017. The descriptive finding aid was prepared by archivist Larry Weimer in April 2017.

Repository

New-York Historical Society

Container

Offsite-Box: 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024