Glove Cycle
Glove Cycle is a 1984 public art installation by Mags Harries at Porter station in Porter Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The piece features 54 bronze glove sculptures placed throughout the station, including on a turnstile, between the up and down escalators, at the bottom of the escalators, on the inbound platform, and embedded in the floors and mezzanine. The gloves are arranged in small groups and scenes to evoke different stories and emotions; some displays include a big glove giving birth to a smaller one, gloves with extra fingers, or a large glove pointing toward a smaller glove, creating a playful link to the surrounding activity.
The project had a budget of $30,000 and was part of the Arts on the Line program, a collaboration between the MBTA and the Cambridge Arts Council to bring art into the Red Line Northwest Extension stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. This program produced 20 artworks for five new stations and drew from more than 400 proposals. The first 20 works cost about $695,000 in total, roughly 0.5% of the extension’s construction cost.
Harries initially considered bronze tree roots and later a flock of sheep-shaped turnstiles, but the roots idea conflicted with the station’s underground setting, and the sheep concept faded after snowstorms in Boston. Lost gloves found in melting snow inspired the final glove concept. The gloves are meant to give a sense of life and movement within the subway environment. Some critics find the idea grand, while others see it as a thoughtful reflection of daily transit. Three gloves were stolen during the sculpture’s first decade.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:35 (CET).