station's north end, at Central Park West and West 81st Street. There is one staircase each to the northwest and southwest corners of the intersection. Artwork In 1976, with funding from the Exxon Corporation, this station, as well as three others citywide, received new "artfully humorous graffiti" murals and artwork. Local designer Mayers and Schiff received $5,000 to add murals of dinosaurs such as "Thesaurus Rex, the dinosaur that had a vocabulary of a thousand words" and "Elongatomus, an elongated critter that stretched from coast to coast whose pelvic remains support a highway interchange in Missouri." As part of the 1998–2000 station renovation, a program of tile mosaics was undertaken, covering the stairs and platforms, extending to floor inlays. Stairwells evoke descending into the geological strata of the Earth (at 81st Street) or into the Ocean (79th Street). Many creatures are evoked in mosaic vignettes that punctuate the stretches of white tiled wall. Fossil casts seem to emerge from the tiles as though the subway platform itself were an excavation, which it actually is. Under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s Arts for Transit program, a mixed-media installation was created in 2000. Entitled "For Want of a Nail", named after the old proverb, it addresses the interconnections of entities that are as vast as a galaxy and as small as a single cell. Using ceramic tile, glass tile, glass mosaic, bronze relief, and granite as primary materials, the design team depicted the evolution of extinct, existing and endangered life forms, from single celled organisms to the towering T. rex dinosaur. It shows images and symbols ranging from the Earth's core, to the sea, the sky and the cosmos beyond. No artist has been identified in this group project. In media The station has been featured in the 2002 film Men in Black II. The station was also mentioned in Night at the Museum. References External links Corner of 81st Street and Central Park West subway entrance from Google Maps Street View Central Park West subway entrance in front of the American Museum of Natural History from Google Maps Street View Platform from Google Maps Street View IND Eighth Avenue Line stations Eighth Avenue (Manhattan) New York City Subway stations in Manhattan Railway stations in the United States opened in 1932 American Museum of Natural History Upper West Side Central Park 1932 establishments in New York City