During the ideation process, all of the members of the group took inspiration from our individual collages. Mine was a kind of subway map, portraying the neighborhoods of Brooklyn as islands and the subway lines between them as waterways separating them and causing allopatric speciation. The islands each have their own diverse collection of species and adaptations, signified by different textures, colors, and symbols. The background is black cardboard while the islands are made of white styrofoam and decorated with maps, duct tape, newspaper, spray paint, and other materials.

Our group wanted to combine our individual collage ideas and capture the diversity of immigrants in Brooklyn. We also were enticed by the idea of the subway as a meeting point of cultures, connecting New Yorkers, their communities, their home countries, and thereby bringing the world with them.

We all happened to live around the A line on different stops, and determined that it was the best subway line to demonstrate this. For simplicity's sake, we picked a couple important stops and found famous or exemplary establishments nearby.

The name of the piece is "Roots of the Rail".

See right photos of procedure: spray painting the background, pasting representations of home countries and NYC locations, cutting subway text out of vinyl, and carefully pasting vinyl stickers on. See below for final product with spray-painted "roots" (made with the help of instructor Eric Miles) and lit-up A line logo.