Airport art

IND: 5 Things We Love About Indianapolis International Airport

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Stuck at The Airport’s “5 Things We Love About…” series is back for the new year celebrating more features and amenities at airports around the country and the world.

Today we land at Indianapolis International Airport (IND)

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5 Things We Love About Indianapolis International Airport (IND)

Indianapolis airport art
From Ron Baron’s ‘Baggage Claim” at IND Airport

1. All the Art at IND

Connections, by Cameron McNall and Damon Seeley at IND Airport

IND has a wonderful collection of permanent and temporary art collections displayed throughout the airport. Many of the pieces were created by artists or poets who live in Indiana or have ties to the Hoosier state.

2. The food at IND

IND is one of those airports where you want to arrive hungry.

The “World’s Best Shrimp Cocktail is served with a signature and very spicy cocktail sauce at Harry & Izzy’s steakhouse in Concourse A. The list of other eateries with local connections includes the Sun King Brewing Co., Shapiro’s Delicatessen, and Tinker Coffee. And check out this Reis and Irvy’s robotic yogurt kiosk.

3. Racing Cars in the IND Terminal

Indianapolis is home to the Indy 500, the largest single-day sporting event in the world. So IND airport displays vintage racing vehicles from the vault at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

Passengers will also hear revving engine sound effects in the pedestrian bridge.

4. Largest Airport Solar Farm

IND lays claim to being home to the world’s largest airport solar farm. The field of panels creates enough energy to power 3,675 average American homes per year. For more energy, the airport has human-powered charging bikes.

5. Souvenir Shopping at IND

Souvenir shopping at IND? Fun options include made-in-Indiana candy at Natalie’s Candy Jar; books by Indiana authors at INK by Hudson and, for a splurge, a crystal basketball from Scoreboard on Concourse A.

Did we miss one of the features you love about Indianapolis International Airport? If so, drop a note in the comments section below. Also let us know which airport you’d like to nominate to be featured in our series next.

Fresh (future) art at Sea-Tac Airport

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Stuck at the Airport world headquarters is in Seattle. So we pay extra attention to what’s happening at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

The airport is building a new $968 million International Arrivals Facility, which will greatly improve the arrival experience for passengers.

The number of international-capable gates will increase from 12 to 20. There will be more bag claim carousels. New technology will speed up passport check clearance. And the minimum connection time for passengers will drop from 90 to 75 minutes. Though we think people will want to spend more time in the airport once they see all the cool amenities here.

The new International Arrival Facility will also bring fresh new art to an airport already filled with great art. And the airport recently shared this video showing the artwork being installed in the Grand Hall of the new International Arrivals Facility.

Take a look.

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Cool collections on display at PHL Airport

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Do you collect anything? (Or a lot of things?)

Here at the Seattle headquarters of Stuck at the Airport, we share space with Space Needle souvenirs, cowgirl memorabilia, and other collections. (Not counting that pile of unread New Yorker magazines).

So we’re delighted to see the Philadelphia International Airport’s (PHL) exhibition program kicking off the new year with a fun show titled “Private Collections: Personal Obsessions.”

On view in Terminal D, the exhibition is a festival of collections on loan from Philadelphia-area residents, including a few people who work at PHL.

The cases include a sampling of collections dedicated to architectural salvage, brooches, cable cars, beer bottles, hearts, masks, magnets, mail art, wind-up toys, and lots more.

“Most [of the collections] have been gathered primarily as a hobby for the collector’s own enjoyment or handed down from one family member to another,” says Leah Douglas, PHL Director of Guest Experience and Chief Curator.

“While the activity of collecting is a universal experience, each collection is personal and unique as each object often represents a specific remembrance or story,” she adds.

The beer bottles on display are courtesy of David Rosenblum, PHL’s photographer/videographer, whose late father collected more than 4000 bottles. “His most prized bottles were always the older bottles from Philadelphia-area brewers,” says Rosenblum.

The refrigerator magnets in the exhibit are on loan from the collection of PHL’s public affairs manager, Heather Redfern.

“[M]agnets are inexpensive trinkets that tell the story of where I have traveled, favorite trips, and great experiences I have had along the way,” says Redfern. “I am reminded of where I have been and where I would still like to go every time I walk past the refrigerator.”

Do you have a collection you have put together from your travels? We’d love to hear about it and see some snaps.

All photos courtesy of PHL Airport and David Rosenblum.

A brush with the SFO Museum’s Hair Style exhibit

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San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is home to the SFO Museum, which does a great job of bringing top drawer exhibits to the terminals.

The SFO Museum’s newest offering runs through August 22, 2021, in Terminal 1, Departures Level 2, and is all about hairstyles and styling aids.

Objects in the exhibit include historical tools, hair products, and novelty items ranging from early curling irons and hair dryers to one-of-a-kind hair sculptures.

“The Flip” – Jeff Hafler, Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum

Here are more images from the exhibition, courtesy of the SFO Museum, as well as some exhibition notes about hairstyles in the 20th century:

Short bobs of the 1920s were made famous by entertainers such as Clara Bow and Josephine Baker.

Waves prevailed in the 1930s, and movie star Jean Harlow became Hollywood’s first “blonde bombshell” with her novel platinum tresses.

During the 1940s, large, voluminous curls, called Victory rolls, adorned the tops of women’s heads.

The late 1950s and ’60s gave way to voluminous hair, namely the bouffant—with hair puffed high at the crown and curled under at the sides.

Counterculture hippies preferred to wear long, free-flowing hair in the late 1960s. Around this time, a growing sense of ethnic pride inspired many African Americans to embrace their hair’s natural texture and wear afros.

During the late 1970s, actress and model Farrah Fawcett established one of the most iconic styles of all time with her feathered locks. Millions of women and girls went to salons requesting the “Farrah” cut.

Polar cub electric hair dryer  c. 1923 – The A.C. Gilbert Company

A photo tour of the aviation-themed art at Boeing Field

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Then – Courtesy Washington State Historical Society

Boeing Field, officially King County International Airport (BFI), is located about 4 miles south of downtown Seattle and is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country.

A lot of avgeeks head to this airport for planespotting and there’s a dedicated outdoor viewing area on the north side of the terminal.

But today we want to share some photos of the aviation-themed artwork that is both in and outside of the terminal building.

The images and the descriptions come to us courtesy of Seattle’s 4Culture, which funds a wide range of cultural projects in King County. When Boeing Field’s circa-1928 Air Terminal Building was being refurbished and renovated for a 2003 reopening, 4Culture commissioned a collection of site-specific art for the terminal that celebrates aviation.

30,000 Feet – by Brad Miller

Brad Miller. 30,000 Feet, 2003. Rulers, neon, and color photographs. King County International Airport, Seattle, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: Joe Freeman

30,000 one-foot wooden rulers flank the entry to the airport’s terminal building. They are arranged into two enormous arrows that point toward the ceiling and a pair of illuminated photographs.

One is a picture of clouds in a royal blue sky and is the view passengers often see when they’re flying at 30.000 feet in a commercial airplane.

The other photo is smaller and suspended below the first photo. This photo depicts a lush, dark evergreen forest that a passenger flying in a small aircraft at 2,000 feet might see.

Luminaries by Norman Courtney 

Norman Courtney (1947 – 2017). Luminaries, 2003. Aluminum, stainless steel, and glass. King County International Airport, Seattle, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: Joe Freeman 

Bejeweled like 1930s pendants, these functional artworks by Norman Courtney reference Art Deco design elements and the history of the terminal building. They also conjure that era’s space-age imagery.

Our Place in Space – by Paul Marioni and Ann Troutner 

Paul Marioni and Ann Troutner. Our Place in Space, 2003. Glass terrazzo. King County International Airport, Seattle, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: Joe Freeman 

The terrazzo floor inside the terminal building depicts the connection between the earth, the moon, and the cosmos. 

The building’s front doors open to a series of land and sea forms that represent North America. From there, a dark blue expanse sparkles with embedded glass, suggesting deep space—vast, fragile, and flecked with countless stars and other astronomical objects.

On the other side of the room, an image of the moon evokes cycles of waxing and waning, light and dark. When people walk from the entryway to the ticket counter they are walking to the moon.

Metropolis Fence  – Peter Reiquam 

Peter Reiquam. Metropolis Fence, 2004. Powder coated steel.  King County International Airport, Seattle, WA. King County Public Art Collection. Photo: Joe Freeman 

A fictional skyline with thunderclouds, searchlights, and a vintage Boeing 307 stretches across the steel fence by Peter Reiquam that links the main terminal building with the administrative building at King County International Airport.

All art photos courtesy of 4Culture.