Art

Travel Tidbits: Fresh Art at SFO

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(Dancing figure by Gabriel Bien-Aimé, Courtesy SFO Museum)

A new exhibition from the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) celebrates the Haitian art form of cut-metal sculpture.

The exhibit, titled The Enduring Spirit of Haitian Metal Sculpture, is located pre-security in the International Departures Hall at SFO.

Here’s some background on this art form, courtesy of the SFO Museum:

Discarded steel oil drums have historically served as the base material for Haitian metal artists. The drums are flattened into sheets and designs are chalked on; pieces are then cut and sculpted using only hand tools and further enhanced by hammering, embossing, cutting holes, and bending the metal. Sculptures reflect everyday life portraits, imaginative themes, and motifs of Haitian Vodou, an African Diasporic religion. Some of the many forms that appear include angels and winged creatures, mermaids and other aquatic figures, musical bands, animals, and earthly, paradisiacal scenes.

Entwined figures by Georges Liautaud. Courtesy SFO Museum

Stuck at the Airport: Art at Albany Int’l Airport

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(Artist: Sharon Bates)

Art – and a smartly curated art program – can turn a long wait at an airport into a rewarding cultural adventure.

And the team at New York’s Albany International Airport (ALB) caught onto that fact early on.

The airport created an Art & Culture Program back in 1998 when only a handful of other airports were presenting artwork.

And now, 25 years later, travelers at Albany International Airport can rely on being able to spend time in the airport enjoying permanent art installations, great temporary exhibitions, and exhibit cases showcasing treasures from area museums and cultural organizations.

(Adirondack Folk School exhibit cases at ALB)

The Stuck at the Airport art review team is looking forward to seeing the current exhibition in ALB’s Concourse A, titled Souvenir, in part because it features work by Sharon Bates, the founding director of Albany International Airport’s Art & Culture Program.

The Souvenir exhibit features artwork submitted to the participatory magazine, Cut Me Up, and Bates’ contribution was a series of miniature versions of some of her most memorable installations at ALB.

We hope she has made some extras, so we can take home some souvenirs.

“A Necessary Departure” at San Diego Int’l Airport

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(“Blue Corona: Sunset Dances”/Artist: Lori Hepner/Location:Terminal 2 West, Post-Security, Stone Brewery Wall)

San Diego International Airport (SAN) is featuring a new temporary exhibition, titled A Necessary Departure, throughout Terminal 2 pre-and-post security.

A Necessary Departure is a collection of works from 17 local artists and organizations that examines personal transformations and how the community has remade itself after the pandemic.

Featured work in the exhibition includes sculpture, painting, photography, ceramics, site-specific installation, and more. All exhibition pieces will remain on display through 2023.

Here is a sample of artwork from the show.

[“Oneness.” Artist: San Diego MTO School/Kerry Soori McEachern. Location: Terminal 2 East, Pre-Security, Gallery]

(“The Wonders of Plastic”/ Artist: Terri Hughes-Oelrich/Location: Terminal 2 East 2nd floor, Post-Security, gate 24)

(“Farverig Sol”/ Artist: Kaori Fukuyama/Location: Terminal 2 East, Pre-Security, Checkpoint six)

All photos courtesy of San Diego International Airport

Travel Tidbits: Fresh Art at IND and RNO Airports

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Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) has a new interactive mural, titled “Fly With Us,” by local artist Matthew McDowell that invites passengers to take pictures with their mural ‘wings.’

Coming Soon to IND Airport

 Art-filled Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is getting a new major piece of public art.

Indianapolis artist Brenna McCarty has been commissioned to create a new art piece that will be the first permanent art installation since the new terminal opened in 2008. 

Scheduled to be installed this fall, the new artwork will be a 40’ by 100’ hanging sculpture representing unity and global connection.

It will be suspended above the escalators and stairs leading into the Baggage Claim area of the terminal, so should be hard to miss.

Happy 25th Anniversary to PHL’s Art Program

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 Congratulations to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), and Director of Guest Experience/art program curator Leah Douglas, on the 25th anniversary of the airport’s award-winning Airport Exhibitions Program.

Since 1998, local artists and arts organizations have filled PHL’s terminals with more than 500 unique exhibitions.

“PHL has a unique opportunity with its global audience to promote Philadelphia’s unique treasures to the world – its arts, culture, and history,” said Douglas. During the 25 years of the program, Douglas has drawn on the talents of local artists, the region’s cultural and creative organizations, and the holdings of the city’s museums to keep the art exhibits at PHL airport fresh, inviting, and inspiring.

Some of our favorite exhibitions include the Bottle Clock and the time PHL invited local people to display their special collections.

Beer Bottle Clock

PHL offers 32 exhibitions annually in 16 locations throughout the airport and has four locations where the artwork remains on view long-term. There are also live artist demonstrations.

So if you’re passing through PHL airport, don’t just sit at your gate, go see some art.

For a bit of encouragement, check out the “PHL HeART Scavenger Hunt Challenge” developed by Eric Dale. Twenty-five hearts made by local street artist Amberella are hidden throughout Terminals A-East and A-West. Guests finding 10 or more by following clues on QR codes can win prizes.

Art + Flight at Seattle’s Museum of Flight

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(Handpainted Mural by Joe Nix)

Seattle’s Museum of Flight is already well-known as the largest nonprofit air & space museum.

Now the sprawling aviation museum is making a bid for being well-known for commissioning and exhibiting art.

The Museum of Flight’s Art+Flight project, running through January 7, 2024, includes dozens of artworks in all mediums by over 30 artists.

Included are three newly commissioned murals and an installation drawn from the Museum’s own art collection.

Here are just a few pieces included in the show.

Aura (below), by RYAN! Feddersen depicts the scale of human-made space junk that orbits Earth.

Viewers are invited to try and spot 8 of the estimated 27,000-35,000 pieces of space junk currently being tracked. The list includes a camera, a glove, a pair of pliers, a spatula, a thermal blanket, a tool bag, a toothbrush, and a wrench.

Jeffrey Veregge mixes Native American traditions with contemporary techniques in his “Salish Geek” style. He has two pieces in the Juried Group Show: We Chose (Apollo Program), and Re-Entry (Space Shuttle Program).

These pieces, Valenci Four and Thorania, are by glass sculptor Rik Allen.

And Jhun Carpio’s Artemis SLS Rocket is made with wooden stirrers and toothpicks.

In addition to the works on display, the Museum of Flight’s Art + Flight project is hosting an artist-in-residence, and presenting arts programs, artist lectures, an interactive mural project, and plenty of other activities through January 7, 2024.

The Stuck at the Airport arts teams is heading to the exhibit this weekend, so stay tuned for more images from the show.

*All photos courtesy Museum of Flight

Light Paintings at John Wayne Airport (SNA)

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(Time Traveler, by Christopher Allwine)

It’s been a while since Stuck at the Airport featured an art exhibit from the John Wayne Airport Arts Program. But we’re delighted to get them back in the cycle with this post highlighting the current exhibit featuring photography by Christopher Allwine.

Allwine specializes in the technique of light painting. And he achieves neon-like effects through the use of long exposure times and handheld light tools.

“Utilizing theatrical and cinematic techniques, he manages composition, creates mood, and leads the viewer’s eye,” the exhibition notes tell us. “These images are not Photoshop creations, they are unique designs blending physical props with photographic innovation.”

(Ride the Snake Highway – Christopher Allwine)

The exhibit is on view pre-security at the John Wayne Airport (SNA) in Santa Clara, CA on the upper Departure Level near security in Terminals A, B, and C and on the lower Arrivals Level by Baggage Carousels 2 and 4 through June 14, 2023.

Here are some more images from the exhibit.

Light, Space & Sound at LAX Airport

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International arriving passengers moving through the West Gates tunnel in the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) pass by a series of art pieces exploring light sound, and space.

The exhibition, put together by dublab and the LAX Art Program, presents work by pioneers and innovators of one of Los Angeles’ homegrown visual art movements, the Light & Space Movement.

The Light & Space Movement, which has been called ‘California Minimalism,’ is an outgrowth of the NY Minimalist art movement and features work that uses light, color, Space Age materials, and technology.

Luminaries of Light & Space at LAX has an audio component too. Dublab’s Orchestrina features 30 composers “pushing the sonic envelope forward.”

Read more about this exhibit here.

(Gisela Colón – Parabolic Monolith (Borealis)

(Hap Tivey – Flame)

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“Green Art” at Tampa Int’l National Airport

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The plants in your home, your workplace, or the airport you’re passing through boost moods and brighten the surroundings.

Live greenery also helps clean indoor spaces by absorbing harmful toxins in the air.

Tampa International Airport (TPA) gets that and makes sure to have live plants in the terminals at all times.

Not just some plants here and there. But more than 3,500 live plants, including vines, ornamentals, palms, tropical foliage, and seasonal plants. And they’re all looked after by a crew of 3 people who grow many of the plants in an airport greenhouse and care for and maintain all the plants year-round.

During April, and in honor of Earth Day (April 22), Tampa International Airport’s interior landscaping team is showing off their green thumbs and their artistic abilities in the “Living and Breathing Art Exhibit” on Level 3 of TPA’s Main Terminal.

 “We just want people to notice plants more,” said Kristina Zakarkaite of the TPA Interior Landscaping team. “Plants are usually the backdrop for everything else, but when they’re front and center, people take notice.

The exhibit includes several framed “living paintings” made with air plants (see image up top), hardy plants creating mini-ecosystems on pieces of logs, ornamental plants grown using the Japanese art of Kokedama, which features a moss-covered ball of soil wrapped with string or fishing line, and more.

Look for the Tampa International Airport’s “Living and Breathing Art Exhibit” throughout April on Level 3 of the Main Terminal in the walkway between Airside A and C near the escalators to the SkyConnect station.

Love green airports? Tell us about the gardens and the greenery at your favorite airport.

(All photos courtesy Tampa International Airport)

Celebrate Art and Science at PHX Airport Event

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The Phoenix Airport Museum at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is hosting a “Night at the Museum” event on Friday, March 24.

The program runs from 4-7 pm (not overnight) and celebrates the Museum’s current Artist and Researcher exhibition presenting art inspired by science.

Alexandra Bowers, Deciphering The Nature of Cardiokines, 

For the exhibition, nine local artists were paired with local researchers to create artwork based on their different areas of study.

The teams worked side-by-side in labs, classrooms, and art studios to create works that are visual representations of the scientific progress happening in Phoenix and other places in Arizona.

During the “Night at the Museum’ event, the public will be able to meet the researchers and artists, view
the collaborative artworks, and participate in an augmented reality experience that allows viewers to walk through sections of the brain.

The event is open to the public and will take place in the PHX Terminal 4, level 3 gallery.