Sure airports need to find new ways to boost income; but please don’t take down the art.

According to this article in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution by Moni Basu, officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) are considering taking down an iconic piece of the airport’s eclectic art collection to make room for advertising.

(Source: the artist’s Web site)

“Four Walls for Atlanta Hartsfield Airport,” a neon work by Stephen Antonakos, was one of 14 public artworks specifically commissioned for the airport. Now, one airport official told the paper, proposals are being considered to use that space for “advertising that showcases the city or is in some way educational, such as ads that promote energy conservation.”

It will be sad if the neon piece gets replaced by ads. But there will still be plenty of art to see at ATL. The airport owns and displays about 275 other works of art and has discussed creating “a mini-museum about Atlanta in the walkway between Concourses A and B and a rain forest display between Concourses B and C.”

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