“Great Waves of Immigration” (2023)

“Great Waves of Immigration” (2023)

Topic 4.15

Carmen Lizardo, “Great Waves of Immigration” (2023)

A large tile mosaic mural of people in a boat in shades of yellow, blue, black, and white


Great Waves of Immigration (2023) © Carmen Lizardo, NYCT 181 St. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design. Photo: Etienne Frossard.

Lizardo’s piece, made up of three mosaics, encapsulates the immigrant experience—leaving home, enduring the arduous journey, and eventually arriving in an unfamiliar city—with a particular focus on the Dominican population of Washington Heights. Dominican immigration in the twentieth century included an influx of Afro-Latino people into northern US cities, in parallel with the Great Migration. Learn more about this piece and view more photographs on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website