New Art Exhibit At Rahway Train Station
Meet the Local Artists Who Put It All Together
October 2, 2025
Rahway Train Station has some extra color thanks to two local artists. The new fiber art installation, titled What We Did This Summer, celebrates the history of Rahway and some of its most famous figures, past and present. The exhibit was installed this week on the station façade, greeting commuters with vivid panels of Rahway’s story.
The artists, Lauren Reidy and Wendy Sheridan, said they spent countless hours cutting and sewing vibrant images onto mesh vinyl canvases. They started in July and worked through September — days, nights, and even lunch breaks — to bring their vision to life.
“It’s so rewarding to see it up there,” said Reidy, who called the experience surreal. This is the duo’s first public art project together.
“It’s amazing,” Sheridan added. “I’m going to be here every day.”
The exhibit is made from a mix of fabrics, including crochet, cotton, ripstop nylon, vinyl, and acrylic yarns. The two kept up a near round-the-clock production schedule, handing off panels between their homes: Sheridan, a retiree, worked through the days while Reidy, a library assistant, took over evenings and lunch hours.
“She’s a night owl,” Sheridan said of her partner. “And I’m a morning lark.”
Each of the 17 fiber art panels depicts a stage of Rahway’s growth — from a carriage town to an industrial hub to a modern city. Highlights include Nikola Tesla and Carl Sagan, ballerina Daphne Marcel Lee, and NFL Pro Bowler Dion Dawkins. The large central arch shows present-day Rahway life, while the far-left arch honors the Lenni-Lenape people, on whose land Rahway stands.
City officials plan to celebrate the installation with an event at the train station on Friday, October 3, from 3 – 6 PM.
Local artists Lauren Reidy and Wendy Sheridan collaborated on the station’s new fabric art exhibit. (The Central Jerseyan)
The installation is part of the TRANSITional Art Project, a partnership between NJ TRANSIT and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. First launched as a pilot in 2019, the program brings temporary public art exhibitions to transit hubs across the state, including Newark Penn Station, the Trenton Transit Center, and the Atlantic City Bus Terminal.
This year’s exhibition, called Arriving Home, opened at the Rahway station in late September and will run through December 2025. Along with Reidy and Sheridan’s fiber art on the station façade, the exhibit also features photography by Tim Heuser and John Cerra in the pedestrian tunnel.
Cerra, a Roselle native, said his images of Union County parks reflect his deep affection for the landscapes he grew up with near Warinanco Park. Heuser, meanwhile, described his work as a way of embracing the “spontaneity and natural disorder” of the world through photography.
Together, the projects aim to brighten the commute for thousands of daily riders while spotlighting local creativity and community history.
As downtown Rahway continues to grow with new development and cultural events, the station’s new art display is a reminder that art and history are at the heart of the city’s identity.
A detailed view of the new fiber art exhibit shows Rahway’s culture in vivid fabric panels. (The Central Jerseyan)
Panels in the new fiber art installation highlight Rahway’s industrial past and scientific contributions. (The Central Jerseyan)
***Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the reception at Rahway Train Station was on Saturday, October 4. The event will be held on Friday, October 3.