Airport art

Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport debuts its eighth new concourse

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Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) begins welcoming passengers at a new concourse today.

The new, state-of-the-art, eight-gate concourse will be used soley by Southwest Airlines. Amenities include charging stations in every seat, an Animal Relief Area, a Family Restroom and a Nursing Room. Hearing loop connectivity allows those with hearing devices to connect to the PA system.

For now, passengers will find kiosks offering food, beverage, and retail items. Shops, restaurants, and a Chase Sapphire Lounge by the Club are set to open in the coming months.

Local favorites Pedal Haus Brewery and Berry Divine – Acai Bowls will be in the new concourse as well as regional concepts Bobby’s Burgers, Eegee’s and others.

Retail shops will include national brands as well as local products from Changing Hands Bookstores, Made Art Boutique, and Melrose Pharmacy.

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The new concourse also showcases the arts and includes a terrific-looking terrazzo floor depicting aerial views of the Phoenix landscape. 28 terrazzo wall pieces are shaped like airplane windows.

The work is called “Phoenix Lights, Phoenix Rising” and is designed by artist Susan Logoreci.

5 Things We Love About HEL – Helsinki Airport

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Beyond, or perhaps we should say despite, its great airport code – HEL- Helsinki Airport, operated by Finavia, offers travelers some charming and thoughtful amenities in its new main terminal.

Here are some snaps from a tour on our way home from a week exploring Finland after joining Finnair on the first flight from Seattle to Helsinki.

Here are 5 of the amenities we loved.

Welcome to Helsinki

Passengers entering the arrivals hall – and those waiting for their friends or loved ones to arrive – are greeted with a calming indoor garden with live plants.

Thoughtful, automatic sanitizing

Is that handrail clean? In most airports, we don’t know. But at Helsinki Airport you can grab on with confidence because the handrail is automatically sanitized all the time.

Art with a sense of place

‘Aukio’ (by Gate 40) is an oasis where passengers can wind down and experience Finnish nature.

The curved 360° LED screen is a projection, soundscape, and interactive wall offering a journey through Finland’s nature and its four seasons. The landscapes change every 10 minutes, the speakers play nature sounds, and an interactive screen lets visitors create art with snowflakes, the Northern Lights, or autumn leaves.

Souvenirs

Airport shops offer everything from Finnish clothing and accessories by Marimekko to licorice-flavored liquors, reindeer pate, and bear meat. (If that’s your thing…)

Christmas Cabin

Santa’s year-round home is in Finland, Finns and others will tell you. So it makes sense that Helsinki Airport has a Christmas Cabin right there in the terminal.

Inside is a faux sauna, a storybook, Scandinavian-style furniture and decorations, and a Book of Names so that Santa knows who has been good or bad.

Art scavenger hunt at PHL Airport

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This summer, passengers at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) have a fun way to spend their dwell time, engage with art, and maybe win a prize.

In PHL’s Art Puzzle Challenge guests seated at the airport’s large B-C food court will find tabletop decals with a scannable QR code. The code is also on B and C info counters and on 4 art exhibition locations.

The code first gives directions to puzzle 1, which is Kiki Aranita’s exhibition of re-created yarned snacks and sauces based on her Korean/Hawaiian heritage. 

In that first stop, players will be asked to find an object named after a Hawaiian island. (Hints are provided).

When that piece of the puzzle is completed, passengers are directed to the other three exhibitions and asked to locate an element of the art. When all 4 pieces of the puzzle are solved, passengers may submit their information online and receive a prize from PHL’s exhibition program: 6 artist-made pins that feature PHL and a selection of international destinations.



The art scavenger hunt kicks off Tuesday, May 31, and is designed by Eric Dale, who creates puzzle challenges for Philly street art. As the art exhibitions at PHL change, the puzzle challenge will be updated. (Photos courtesy PHL Airport).

Year-round poetry at Indianapolis International Airport

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Indianapolis International Airport (IND) hosted a Poetry Day this week with poetry readings and live music in honor of National Poetry Month.

But there’s poetry at IND year-round.

A video exhibit on Concourse A features a selection of poems by Mari Evans, one of the founders of the Black Arts Movement.

A poem by Mari Evans is one of the six poems featured in a series of 14 floor-to-ceiling glass panes in the concourses. The mural collection, The Indiana Windows, is the work of British artist Martin Donlin, who created the poetry-inclusive mural series using more than 2,000 hand-blown panes of glass.

Airport Amenity of the Week: PHL flight pins

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The Airport Amenity of the Week is Philadelphia International Airport’s (PHL) celebration of summer flights marked by a collection of artist-made pins.

We spotted them in a tweet a while back and admired them.

And PHL was kind enough to send a batch to Stuck at the Airport’s headquarters.

The package was larger than we thought. And we were pleased to see that not only are the pins larger than we thought – 2 inches across – but that there’s also a bright poster also celebrating the return of many European flights this summer between Amsterdam, Madrid, Athens, Rome, Dublin, Venice, and many other destinations.

It’s a great way to draw attention to the return of flights. A great new airport collectible. And a great way to support local artists and promote the airport.

So, we’ll declare this art, and the idea, the Airport Amenity of the Week.

Spot a cool new airport event, effort, or amenity? Nominate it for Airport Amenity of the Week by leaving a comment below.