In Cambridge’s Harvard Square station, artist Joyce Kozloff’s 83-foot-long mural, “New England Decorative Arts,” captures the eye with its vibrant, quilt-like design made of interlocking hand-painted tiles. This mural, installed in 1985, showcases scenes from New England’s landscape and historical motifs, including gravestones, weathervanes, sailboats, and silhouettes of Indigenous individuals and European settlers.

This piece was Kozloff’s first public art commission and reflects her contributions to the Pattern and Decoration movement of the 1970s and 1980s. However, over the decades, the mural has faced deterioration due to the subway system's conditions, which have increasingly threatened its integrity.

Kozloff noted that the wall's infrastructure issues are primarily responsible for the mural's current state. She had previously restored part of the mural in 1986 but warned that without significant repairs to the wall, further damage was inevitable. She estimates that restoring the mural would cost over $1 million, covering new tiles, shipping, demolition, and construction.

Despite receiving support from local officials, Kozloff emphasizes the need for backing from the MBTA CEO or the Massachusetts governor to secure funding for restoration. The mural was part of the Arts on the Line program, which integrated public art into subway stations and inspired similar initiatives in other cities. Kozloff, now 81, is digitizing her tile designs in hopes of future restoration, indicating her commitment to preserving the mural’s legacy.

Other artworks at the station, such as György Kepes’s stained-glass piece and Dimitri Hadzi’s granite sculpture, have also faced conservation challenges. The MBTA acknowledges the importance of public art but is currently focused on addressing broader infrastructure issues, requiring a significant budget for repairs and upgrades.

Sayart / Amia Nguyen, amyngwyen13@gmail.com