Late Trackman's Art Lauded
He Painted Subways' Dignity

By ARI PAUL

The New York City Transit Museum Dec. 18 opened its exhibit of the art work of Track Worker Marvin Franklin, who was killed on the job in April, with a reception for his family members, friends and fellow artists as well as transit and union officials who spoke of both his artistic talent and his devotion to those around him.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James 'THE OTHER SIDE OF TRANSIT WORKERS': Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, right, accompanies the widow of Track Worker Marvin Franklin, Tenley Franklin, during a reception Dec. 18 for the launch of an exhibit of Mr. Franklin's artwork at the New York City Transit Museum.

"We are transit workers and we move this town, which means that we toil and labor and drive trains and buses, fix rails and replace rails and work on the trains - and that's what we are known for," said Roger Toussaint, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, which supplied much of the funding for the exhibit. "And Marvin's work shows the other side of transit workers. Not only do we lead full and productive lives on the job, but we do so off the job as well."

Up From Homelessness

When Mr. Franklin was killed in April by a train that sped through his work site at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station on the A/C and G lines in Brooklyn, he was three years away from retirement. He had been studying painting, drawing and printmaking at the Art Students League, going there every weekday morning after completing his night shift. He sketched the commuters and homeless people he saw on the subway and re-created them with watercolors.

A former homeless person, he sought to spread awareness of homelessness in his art and to one day sell art to raise money to combat their plight . At the age of 55, Mr. Franklin was killed five days after fellow Track Worker Daniel Boggs was also fatally struck on the tracks. Their deaths sparked NYC Transit and Local 100 to collaborate to improve track safety. This month, a joint task force issued more than 60 recommendations for new work protocols.

'Honor Them With Safety'

"The days when Daniel Boggs and then Marvin passed were clearly the most difficult days in the past year that I've had, and words cannot express, obviously, the pain that we have all felt," Elliot G. Sander, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Executive Director, told the reception's 50 attendees. "All I can say is that what we have tried to do to honor Marvin and Danny Boggs is to work as hard as we can to make the workplace as safe as we can."

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James CAPTURING EMOTION: Artist Robin Kraus, who knew Marvin Franklin through the Art Students League, admired his ability to empathize with the homeless people who appear in his subway watercolors and sketches. 'He definitely has a great amount of technical skill,' she said.

NYC Transit President Howard H. Roberts and Mr. Franklin's widow, Tenley Franklin, also spoke. Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Ed Watt was also in attendance.

Many of the people at the reception had invitations, because they were friends, fellow workers or artists who studied with him. Deborah Blau, an artist of many different media, obtained a pass to the opening after seeing a flyer for his art on the subway. She said she was captivated by his ability to immortalize NYC Transit commuters.

"It's the essence of the melting pot, of what you see on the subway," she said.

Edward Lynch, who will curate a show of Mr. Franklin's work at the Salmagundi Art Club next summer, recognized his skill of being able to precisely detail subjects in his sketches, many of which he did on a clunky, loud and crowded subway train after a shift of strenuous and stressful track work. Mr. Lynch said he was particularly moved by Mr. Franklin's ability to depict the homeless and the working poor in his art.

'Gave Them Dignity'

"He gave them dignity at the same time," he said. "I think he loved them. He saw them with clarity and strength."

Mr. Lynch first became familiar with Mr. Franklin's work two years ago, when Salmagundi displayed art by city workers, a show in which Mr. Franklin won an award. For him, the painting that stood out the most was one of a homeless man in a jacket using subway seats as a bed. But in his upcoming show of Mr. Franklin's work, he will focus more on the sketches than the paintings.

Richard Pantell, who taught Mr. Franklin printmaking at the Art Students League for nine years, said his work was exceptional because he went beyond merely making portraits.

'He Was Golden'

"There's something on their mind," he said, pointing to series of sketches. "They also have mobility. They're not stiff or stuck. That really shows his genius."

Mr. Pantell recalled being struck by the potential he saw in Mr. Franklin's sketchbooks when he first saw them nine years ago. He would later be impressed not only by his ability to quickly master other media, but by his eagerness to take other art students under his wing. Mr. Franklin's dream for retirement was to teach art at the school where he had been perfecting his craft.

"He was a pro," Mr. Pantell said. "As a human being, he was just golden."