If you’ve walked through the subway bypass tunnel at 14th St./6th Ave in recent years, you have may stumbled upon hundreds of colorful Post-It notes covering the white tile walls.
This is the presence of a community art project called Subway Therapy, “an immersive and interactive work aiming to help people smile, laugh, and feel less stress.” It first started soon after the 2016 election, and though it has returned to the station in various iterations since then, it’s now posted up again from Wednesday, Nov. 6 through Saturday, Nov. 9 of this week from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Passers-by are invited to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences through notes on the wall — or verbally through Listening Lab, the larger 501(c)3 non-profit that Subway Therapy is a part of. A member of the organization sits at a table and anyone join them to express whatever they need to, just being listened to.
“Subway Therapy is a project that invites people to talk to each other through writing,” said founder Matt Chavez in a recent social media interview. “It’s a way of inviting peaceful expression and doing community building.”
The prompt for this set-up says “What’s on your mind?” and anyone is welcome to write their thoughts or feelings on a sticky note and add it to the wall. And before you get concerned about litter, Chavez takes the notes down each day and then puts them up again the next morning.
Find him set up this week — from the LFM line, follow the signs to the 123 train (or the reverse, depending where you enter).
Chavez also noted he may extend it after this Saturday if people still want to participate.