Airport art

“Green Art” at Tampa Int’l National Airport

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)

Travel Tidbits from Airports Near You

Where We’re Going

Happy Friday!

We’re heading off to visit Victoria International Airport (YYJ) today to learn about their great art collection, their new pollinator garden, the BC Aviation Museum (next door), and all the shops and the restaurants.

But mostly we’re excited about getting to visit the in-airport branch of Victoria Distillers, makers of Empress 1908 Gin. The first airport distillery in North America lets travelers watch their own bottles of the violet-hued gin being filled, labeled, and sealed and, we’ve heard that they serve up samples.

What We’re Scrolling

Celebrate Art and Science at PHX Airport Event

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 BowersDeciphering 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.


Some of SFO Museum’s #52 Objects

As far as we know, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is one of just two airports in the country that has an onsite museum program accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. (Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is the other one.)

Pretty much everything the SFO Museum displays in the terminals from its own collection or from a collection on loan is top-notch. But there are plenty of objects that never, or rarely, go on display. And lots of objects you might miss if you’re just passing through.

That’s why we’re delighted that for 2023, the SFO Museum is highlighting one “notable, unusual, interesting, or just plain fun” item from the collection each week.

Here’s what’s shown up so far.

Art Tour Of The New Kansas City International Airport (MCI)

Courtesy Clark Weitz Clarkson.

When the new 1-million-square-foot terminal at Kansas City International Airport (MCI) officially opens on February 28, $5.6 million in newly commissioned art will be on display.

Here are images of some of the key pieces:

“Fountain (KCI)” by Leo Villareal

“Molten Swing” by Soo Sunny Park

Credit Clark Weitz Clarkson

“The Air Up There” by Nick Cave

Credit Clark Weitz Clarkson

“Ornithology” by Willie Cole

Credit Clark Weitz Clarkson

“Let The Music Take You” by George Rodriguez

Credit-Harriet Baskas”

“Wings” by John Balistreri

Courtesy of the artist

“Cloud Gazing” by SOFTlab

Credit – Clark Weitz Clarkson