Artwork: "City of Light" (Romare Bearden)

Stained glass windows located in the mezzanine of the Westchester Square station. The windows depict an elevated subway train winding its way through the New York City skyline.

Shortly before his death in 1988, Romare Bearden completed the project design for a stained-glass window in the Westchester Square IRT station. The work is based on a collage depicting an elevated train weaving in and out of a cityscape in Bearden's familiar Cubist interpretation of New York City street life. The experience of riding the elevated trains is central to Bearden's imagery. As he described, "To see the changing aspects of the city... the great buildings of midtown... and the tenements abutting the elevated lines. Like Edward Hopper, I drew inspiration from these sights." Bearden's stained-glass windows, made from a thick durable epoxy, are located in the entrance. The windows were executed by Belgian born and trained architectural glass artist Benoit Gilsoul who collaborated closely with Bearden. This is Bearden's only work in glass. Mr. Gilsoul has used bright colored glass, translating the imagery, textures, and the line strokes, as he discussed with Bearden. Source: cuny.edu.