IMAGINE IF... WE COULD TURN 4,000 SUBWAY SCREENS IN NEW YORK INTO AI ART
What happens when five New York artists get their first taste of AI tools, and 4,000 MTA screens to fill? We teamed up with Google DeepMind and Outfront Media for our biggest AI art project yet, turning NYC into a living, breathing art gallery powered by human imagination and AI creativity.
Inviting the whole city to imagine
Our five NYC artists kicked off the project by dreaming big. From wild ideas like “Imagine if NYC had 320 inches of rain in one day” to playful ones like “Imagine if rush hour took place in the sky,” they turned these visions into AI-powered videos on 4,000 MTA screens.
Each screen has a QR code inviting New Yorkers to submit their own “Imagine if” prompts.
Through November and December, the artists will sift through thousands of submissions, picking favorites to bring to life in their styles, and refresh the screens with new animations each week.
Giving our artists a crash course in AI
Most of our five NYC artists had never used AI as a creative tool before. Google stepped in with workshops on tools like Flow, Veo3, and Gemini, showing them how AI could boost creativity, not replace it.
Meet the five artists, one from every borough:
Jeff Wave (Queens) is a musician and multidisciplinary artist who blends sound, design, and storytelling. His work feels like a bridge between the digital future and everyday life.
Molly Goldfarb (Manhattan) is a painter with punk energy and color to spare. Her work is a mix of acrylics, digital pieces, and marker drawings, turning daily life into expressive energy.
Ariana Cimino (Staten Island) is an illustrator whose work radiates warmth… and features plenty of dogs. She shows heart and humor through her joyful portraits and playful scenes.
Subway Doodle (Brooklyn) is a digital artist who turns everyday subway rides into surreal adventures. His surreal city scenes remind us that magic hides in the mundane… sometimes sitting right next to you on the train.
Lauren Camara (Bronx) is a self-taught artist who builds entire worlds from cut paper. Her colorful portraits and layered stories spotlight everyday people and the communities that shape New York’s soul.
What’s Next?
The campaign keeps moving, with artists updating the screens each week using New Yorkers’ submissions. It all leads to a December 14 finale in Times Square, where the most imaginative pieces will take over the iconic digital screens.