Airport art

Airports celebrate World Art Day

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We’re big fans of art at airports.

So we were pleased to see airports around the country celebrating World Art Day by showing off the great art in the terminals.

Here’s a sampling. Let us know if we missed your World Art Day tweet and we will be happy to add it.

Tampa Int’l Airport Turning 50

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Tampa International Airport (TPA) turns 50 on Thursday, April 15, and is celebrating with giveaways, a sweepstakes drawing, and special surprises for travelers passing through the terminal that day. 

The airport is hosting a sweepstake with a first prize of a $1,000 gift card for redemption at TPA’s shops and restaurants. The winner will also get a TPA swag basket and an exclusive airfield tour. There will be smaller prizes for second and third place. The contest is open until April 15 at 10 a.m. and winners will be announced later that day. Enter TPA’s sweepstakes here.

If you happen to be at Tampa International Airport on April 15, you’ll also be able to enjoy:

  • Giveaways for every 50th passenger going down the escalator, exiting the shuttles and at other key touchpoints.
  • 50th-anniversary décor around the Main Terminal 
  • A TPA branded photo station 
  • Special anniversary videos playing throughout the Main Terminal and on social media
  • Snacks and treats 

Fresh Art at TPA

Just in time for its 50th anniversary, Tampa International Airport also has some fresh new artwork to its collection. Both “Cove” by Jason Hackenwerth and “Untitled” by Soo Sunny Park are in the newly completed SkyCenter Atrium.

Travel Tidbits from SAT and SEA Airports

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Fresh Art for San Antonio International Airport

San Antonio International Airport (SAT) has a new, hard to miss, piece of public art.

“Star of Texas (La Estrella de Texas),” by the renowned Mexican artist Sebastián, now sits on the south side of the SAT airport entrance, on Airport Boulevard.

The work is 17-feet tall and is painted in the artist’s signature fiery red.

“Public Art is a significant part of who we are, representing where we’ve been, where we are, and where we hope to go as a community,” said San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg in a statement. “The ‘Star of Texas’ speaks to the long-lasting impression San Antonio leaves on visitors and residents alike. Whether visiting San Antonio for the first time or the 100th, or a resident leaving the airport for a vacation, we all know the feeling that keeps us longing for a fast return to this great city.”

Sensory Room + Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Room at SEA Airport

Airports in Pittsburgh, Miami, Atlanta, and elsewhere now have sensory rooms designed to reduce the stress for travelers with neurological or developmental disabilities. The latest airport to offer this feature to travelers is Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). The new sensory room at SEA room offers a seated bench area, an orange squeeze chair, a rocking chair, dimmable lighting, a starry night ceiling, wool rock pillows, and other features.

Along with the sensory room, SEA also recently unveiled the Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Room. Features here include dimmable lighting, three alcoves of seating, a kneeling prayer bench, Qibla pointer, and luggage/shoe storage.

Both the Sensory Room and the Interfaith Prayer and Meditation Room at SEA airport are located h the train level of the A Gates Satellite Transit Station (STS) in the long hallway near the elevators.

Travel Tidbits from airports & museums

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Happy Friday! Here are some travel tidbits we’ve been keeping in the inbox all week

Fresh murals at Charlotte Douglas Int’l Airport

CLT Airport is greeting passengers on Concourse C with four new murals by two local artists

Amy Bagwell’s two murals “Our Days” at gates C4 and C7 were inspired by her travels through the airport.

And Ruth Ava Lyons’ “Interplay I” and “Interplay II” at gates C10 and C15 focus on the wonder of the natural world and issues surrounding the delicately balanced constellation of ecosystems worldwide.


The Places We’ll Go: World Chess Hall of Fame

We’re making lists of places we’ll go once we can go places.

On the list: The World Chess Hall of Fame, in St. Louis, MO.

Not only is the World Chess Hall of Fame home to the World’s Largest Chess Piece (20 feet tall), but through May 16, 2021, the museum is hosting an exhibit of work by Keith Haring. In addition to Haring’s works and photographs of the artist, the exhibit includes bespoke street art chess sets from Purling London and newly-commissioned pieces by Saint Louis artists, all paying homage to the late pop culture icon.

Fresh art (and history) at St. Louis Lambert Int’l Airport

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There’s a new glass mural at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) honoring the life and legacy of airport founder Major Albert Bond Lambert.

Born in 1875, Albert Lambert was an avid balloonist and an accomplished golfer who competed in the 1900 and 1904 summer Olympics. And, lucky for us, he was also an aviation enthusiast who, after taking a ride in a plane piloted by Orville Wright, took flying lessons from the Wright Brothers’ company. In 1911, Lambert became the first licensed pilot in St. Louis.

In 1920, Lambert and the Missouri Aeronautical Society leased farmland to serve as an airfield for St. Louis. And it was Lambert, whose family owned the pharmaceutical company that made Listerine, who paid to have the land developed as an airfield. In 1925, when the lease ran out, Lambert purchased the airfield property. He sold it in 1928 to the city of St. Louis, at cost.

The new mural, “Dream Beyond the Clouds,” was designed by Martin Donlin. And in the video, below, Donlin describes the artistic inspiration for the mural design, the ‘making-of’ the mural, and what he learned about the airport’s namesake.

You’ll want to see the mural up close. Look for it in Terminal One, across from entry door 4.