Join MTA Arts & Design and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum for a special conversation celebrating the opening of MTA Arts and Design’s In Service: MTA Photographs by Christopher Payne and the closing of Cooper Hewitt’s Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne.

Photographer Christopher Payne will discuss his process and share stories behind his explorations of the New York transit system, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the craft, curiosity, and precision that define his work. Fascinated by complex systems and spaces of making and doing, Payne captures the choreography of labor and machinery that usually happens out of sight.

Payne will be joined in conversation by MTA Arts & Design Director Tina Vaz, and Cooper Hewitt Chief Curator Michelle Millar Fisher, will moderate. The program will take place in the In Service gallery space at Grand Central. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about this new body of photographs and see a featured selection of images from the exhibition.

Speakers

Trained as an architect, Christopher Payne (born 1968) is fascinated by design, assembly, and the built form. Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne, a solo exhibition, is on view at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum through September 27, 2026. Payne’s books include Made in America; Making Steinway: An American Workplace; North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City; Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals; and New York’s Forgotten Substations: The Power Behind the Subway. His work has appeared frequently in The New York Times Magazine and in other major publications around the world, including The New Yorker, National Geographic, Scientific American, The Atlantic, Time, and Wired, among many others.

Michelle Millar Fisher is Chief Curator at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. She was most recently the Ronald C. and Anita L. Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts at the MFA Boston. Her work at the MFA has focused on the intersections of people, power and the material world. Her most current work is dedicated to craft education, a project that will culminate in the book Craft Schools: A Traveler’s Guide, as well as a forthcoming exhibition, “Think With Your Hands: Learning Through Craft Schools.” As part of an independent team, she also led “Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births,” a book, touring exhibition and series of programs. The project won a Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Award, a Graham Foundation Award and the 2025 Architectural Review Award for Research in Gender and Architecture.

Tina Vaz is Director of Arts & Design at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), where she leads the agency’s acclaimed public art program, commissioning permanent and rotating works that enhance the transit experience for millions of riders. She previously served as Chief Brand and Communications Officer for the Guggenheim, guiding global brand strategy across the foundation’s international constellation of museums and launching major initiatives including the BMW Guggenheim Lab and the Guggenheim Helsinki project. At Meta, she directed the Open Arts global commissioning and programming initiative, delivering more than 600 site-specific artworks and pioneering projects at the intersection of art and emerging technologies.

Partner Descriptions

Since 1985, MTA Arts & Design has delivered innovative arts programming throughout New York’s transit system. With more than 400 permanent artworks and ongoing music, poetry, photography, and digital art, we brighten the journey every day. Our collection now spans 5,000 square miles of stations, trains, and bus depots— reflecting the diversity of our region and enriching travel for millions. Art everywhere, wherever you are.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historical and contemporary design, and is the steward of one of the most diverse and comprehensive design collections in existence—more than 215,000 design objects spanning 30 centuries. From ancient textiles and works on paper to icons of modern design and cutting-edge technologies, Cooper Hewitt’s collection serves as inspiration for creative work of all kinds and tells the story of design’s paramount importance in improving our world.

AccessibiliTy & What to Expect 

  • Format: The program will begin with a brief welcome, then the speakers will engage in a moderated conversation. It will end with an optional Q&A with the audience. The audience will remain seated for the program. 
  • About the space: This program will take place on the Grand Central Dining Concourse (lower level), near platform 104. The audience seating area has seats with backs. It is fully wheelchair accessible. Read more about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt. 
  • Accommodations: The program will have live CART captioning. We welcome questions and accommodation requests that support your participation. Email us at CHEducation@si.edu or let us know when you register. Please make your request as far in advance as possible—preferably at least ten days before the program date. 

SUPPORT

Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne received support from Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Signature support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Additional generous contributions have been made by Target and New Balance.