airport exhibits

At PHL Airport: a collection of collections

Exhibits, Uncategorized, , , ,

The exhibition program at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is offering an exhibition featuring a wonderful collection of collections.

Personal Collection – Private Obsessions features an assortment of private collections that are borrowed from residents of the Greater Philadelphia area and from employees at Philadelphia International Airport.

Passengers traveling through PHL between now and May 2024 will see some collections representing nostalgic objects, such as handbags, sewing thimbles, antique glass, airline silverware, and John F. Kennedy ephemera.

Other collections feature more familiar objects from popular culture—ice cream scoops, bobbleheads, bottle caps, Funko Pop! figures, travel magnets, and Philadelphia Eagles hats.

The exhibit notes point out that while the activity of collecting is a universal experience, each collection is as personal and unique as each object and often represents a specific remembrance or story.

“This is the 4th exhibition of collections that we have presented over the past 25 years of the exhibitions program,” said Leah Douglas, PHL’s Director of Guest Experience. “The current installation is by far the most extensive one to date and it is proving to be a big hit with our guests and employees,” she said.

Personal Collections – Private Obsessions is on view at Philadelphia International Airport through May 2024 and is located between Terminals C and D accessible to ticketed passengers.

What do you collect?

It seems everyone collects something. Or many things. Please share a note about your collections in the comments section below.

Museum Monday: PHL celebrates The Sound of Philadelphia

Music, , ,

PHL exhibit honors Philadelphia International Records (PIR)

An exhibit celebrating and highlighting the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia International Records (PIR), a record label dubbed “The Sound of Philadelphia,” is now on view at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), near Terminal A-East.

The label created by songwriting duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, along with collaborator Thom Bell, released hits by artists such as Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle, Lou Rawls, The O’Jays, and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes.

Chuck Gamble, the nephew of PIR co-founder Kenny Gamble (first photo), was on hand for the ribbon-cutting, as was co-founder Leon Huff (below, in the checked shirt).

Airport jokes & other travel tidbits

Fun Stuff,

Monday was National Tell a Joke Day and a few airports around the country shared some funny bits via Twitter. If we missed yours, please let us know and we’ll add it in.

We also spotted this colorful tweet from Pittsburgh International Airport, a fun Monday verse from Tampa International Airport, and a quick art tour from the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport.

And take a look at this great agricultural exhibit at Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) in California. The exhibit tells the story of the area’s agricultural heritage with photos, informational panels, and exhibit cases. As a nice bonus, the airport is offering free parking validation to those who want to just stop by and see the exhibit.

If/Then: Women in Aviation Statues at Dallas Love Field

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In 2021. Dallas’ NorthPark Center will present #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit, which will feature 123 3-D printed statues of contemporary women working in the STEM professions of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

In the meantime, 15 of those statues are on display through March 9, 2021, at Dallas Love Field. Included in the group are 10 statues that portray women who work in aviation or aerospace-related fields, including astrophysicists, a rocket scientist, and an aviation maintenance technician.

To create the statues each subject stands in a scanning booth that uses 89 cameras and 25 projectors to generate a 3D image. A special machine then takes up to ten hours to slowly build up the layers of acrylic gel that make the statue.

Here’s a list of the women whose statues are in the DAL pop-up exhibit.

1. Adriana Bailey – Atmospheric Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research
2. Charita Castro – Social Science Researcher, Office of the US Trade Representative
3. Xyla Foxlin – Engineer, Entrepreneur, and Nonprofit Director, Beauty and the Bolt
4. Miriam Fuchs – Telescope Systems Specialist, East Asian Observatory
5. Joyonna Gamble-George – Health Scientist, National Institutes of Health
6. Erika Hamden – Professor of Astrophysics, University of Arizona
7. Kelly Korreck – Astrophysicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8. Adele Luta – Scientist and Innovator, Oceaneering
9. Jenn Makins – STEM Educator and Inventor, Parish Episcopal School
10. Amanda Masino – Biologist, Professor and Research Director, Huston-Tillotson University
11. Tiffany Panko – Women’s Health Researcher, Rochester Institute of Technology
12. Jasmine Sadler – Dancing Rocket Scientist and STEAM Entrepreneur, The STEAM Collaborative
13. Nikki Sereika – Aviation Maintenance Technician, Southwest Airlines
14. Nicole Sharp – Aerospace Engineer and Science Communicator, Sharp Science Communication Consulting
15. Mary Beth Westmoreland – Vice President, Amazon

And here’s a short time-lapse video of the statues being installed.

Guitars at Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl Airport

Art, , , ,

A cool new exhibit about guitars is underway at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

Phoenix is home to the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery and right now passengers traveling through Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport are being treated to an exhibit featuring nine hand-crafted guitars, including both acoustic and electric style.

Exhibition highlights include Scott Walker’s hand-painted “patina” guitar (above), which has wood body that resembles oxidized metal. Also on display: an unusual 26-string harp-guitar by William Eaton and an electric mandolin by Joe Vallee, whose instruments are collected by prominent musicians like Steve Miller.

Visitors to the PHX Airport Museum exhibit will also find displays of the guitar-making process. Parts of a guitar are presented in an exploded view showing how a guitar is constructed. And the various stages of shaping the wood components of a guitar are explained.

Exploded view of an acoustic guitar, courtesy of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery

Phoenix Airport Museum’s exhibition, Shaping Sound: The Art of Guitar Making, is on view in two display cases at Terminal 4, level 2 near ticketing through May 2020. 

The 30-year old Phoenix Airport Museum has more than 900 pieces in its collection. The museum presents exhibits featuring both items from the collection and from area artists in several galleries throughout the airport.