Documented artwork / station relief and glass installation
Hear the Lone Whistle Moan; copacetic
Credit as documented: Alison Saar
Alison Saar's Harlem–125th Street station project developed in two phases. Hear the Lone Whistle Moan, installed in 1991, uses bronze reliefs on the platforms to depict a young woman arriving and a businessman leaving home. Its title draws on a spiritual and connects train travel with African American history. In 2018, copacetic added twenty-four laminated-glass panels to four platform shelters, translating Saar's woodcut prints into light-filled images of Harlem's music and social life in the 1930s and 1940s.
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At a glance
- Year / version
- 1991 (bronze reliefs); 2018 (copacetic glass panels)
- Materials
- bronze reliefs, laminated glass panels
- Documented setting
- outdoor
- Dimensions
- copacetic comprises 24 glass panels across four platform shelters; no overall dimensions established.
- Dimensions apply to
- Documented object or named component scope only; no relocation/engineering specification. Source disagreements and architectural measurements remain explicitly qualified.
- Availability
- Unconfirmed
Places & versions
Installation history
Historical presentations. A past installation does not establish the current location or suitability for a new site.
1991 (bronze reliefs); 2018 (copacetic glass panels)
Harlem–125th Street Metro-North Railroad station, New York, New York
- Site
- Harlem–125th Street Metro-North Railroad station
Installation details checked 2026-10-17.
Materials and construction
Upper-window patterns combine references to the station's wrought iron and the African diaspora. Deep reds, blues and yellows animate the panels in sunlight. The MTA treats both phases as one station project; their materials and dates remain distinct.
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Sources
- www.mta.info ↗ · Checked 2026-10-17