Airport art

Memphis Airport apologizes to artist

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In mid-February, Memphis artist Tommy Kha shared an Instagram post celebrating the fact that one of his pieces was included among the artwork installed at Memphis International Airport as part of the newly reopened Concourse B.

“Termin[inal]s of Endearment,” the Asian American artist and Elvis fan wrote, “still kinda stunned to be part of this collection…”

The artwork, a self-portrait depicting the artist dressed as Memphis icon Elvis Presley, was one of 61 new art pieces Memphis pubic art non-profit UrbanArt Commission helped choose for the new terminal.

But at the beginning of this week, Kha was back on social media. This time sharing a photo of the empty wall at the airport where the artwork had been.

“Apologies to those who wished to see this piece: it is no longer on display,” he wrote. “After some disturbing complaints about my work, it was decided, and without my knowledge, the pictures were removed.”

Why was it removed?

In a statement shared with local media, airport president and CEO Scott Brockman said that after receiving “a lot of negative feedback” from Elvis fans, and a “small number” of complaints that referred to Kha’s race (and which MEM officials said were “completely inappropriate,”) the airport had decided to temporarily remove the piece.

“When the airport created its art program, our goal was to purchase and display artwork that did not include public figures or celebrities,” Brockman said in his statement. “Our selection committee made an exception in the case of Tommy Kha’s piece and recommended its purchase.”

As you may imagine, the decision to remove the piece didn’t sit well with art fans and many members of the community. Nor with the Urban Art Commission, which said on social media that it had worked with the airport authority and selection committee to curate “an art program that speaks to a diverse and authentic creative community representative of Memphis.”

“We are opposed to Tommy Kha’s installation being removed from display, especially considering the openly racist comments made online in the development of this situation,” the group added.

Good news: the airport authority listened and will reinstall Kha’s work

Constellations VIII by Tommy Kha

In a “doing the right thing” move, the airport has quickly decided to apologize to the artist and reintall the artwork.

Here’s the statement – and apology – from Memphis airport authority President and CEO Scott Brockman:

Over the past 24 hours, we have heard from many in our community regarding the temporary removal of Tommy Kha’s artwork in the new concourse. The Airport Authority appreciates the support that the community has shown for Tommy and we have made the decision to reinstall the artwork. We apologize to Tommy for the effect that this ordeal has had on him.

As stated yesterday, when the airport created its art program, our goal was to purchase and display artwork that did not include public figures or celebrities but made an exception in this case.

The Airport Authority will continue to emphasize local artists, diversity, and inclusion with this art program, and we will explore additional best practices to address how we handle complaints and public feedback about our artwork.

Right move.

Pitchfork has more on this story, along with some comments from Kha.

Fresh art at LAX Airport

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Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has three new art exhibitions to look for next time you pass through.

Presented in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the exhibits feature works by two solo artists and one group exhibition. The artwork includes large-scale printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, painting, and multi-media artworks across three terminals.

“Out of the Blue“ is a group exhibition of paintings, ceramics, and mixed-media works. Look for this in the Terminal 7 art gallery adjacent to the security screening area. (Ticketed passengers only)

“Your Body is a Space That Sees“ by Los Angeles artist Lia Halloran is accessible to ticketed passengers in Terminal 1 at Gate 9. The images combine ink and light to celebrate women’s contributions to astronomy.

The large-scale cyanotype prints source historical imagery from a group of Harvard women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when views of the night sky were captured in photographic emulsion on glass plates.

“This body of work is really meant to honor the invaluable work that female astronomers contributed to their field,” Halloran says. “Without these discoveries, we would be nowhere near where we are now in terms of being able to measure and understand the universe.” 

“Tumbleweeds,” by Pontus Willfors, is a site-specifi­c installation featuring hand-crafted, botanical sculptures manipulated from wood. The sculptures are inspired by tumbleweeds found in the Mojave Desert, which extends into the northeastern part of Los Angeles County. Look for this work in the Tom Bradley International Terminal customs hallway.

LAX SELFIE GUIDED TOUR

LAX also has a fun Selfie Guided Tour of community art located in the pre-screening areas of Terminals 1, 2, 5, 6, and 7.

Start at the Theme Building, located in the center of the Central Terminal Area, and walk the mile-route to view all nine pieces of art. The artwork is displayed on large walls and creates an opportunity to snap selfiez to share on social media using #LAXSelfieGuidedTour. 

Photos by SKA Studios LLC., courtesy of Los Angeles World Airports and City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

4-hour layover at IAH airport? Lucky you!

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Greeting from Houston – mural by Daniel Anguilu and Frank Nathan. Pictured: Art Curator Alton DuLaney and Harriet Baskas

Many people dread and try desperately to avoid long airport layovers. Not us. On our journey to the Galapagos, we swapped a stress-inducing 56-minute connection at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) for a four-hour layover at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

Just so we could get a tour of the art.

Countree Music by Terry Allen – created 1999

Alton DuLaney, Director and Curator of the Public Art Program for the Houston Airport System, was kind enough to meet me for a tour of some of his favorites. You can see the full list, with photos, in our story for The Points Guy site.

But I’ve pulled out a couple of my favorites here.

The Houston Airport, which operates both IAH and Hobby Airport (HOU) owns more than 350 works of art, one of the largest public art collections in Texas. Art curator DuLaney is a proponent of displaying as much of the collection as possible. So if you take a walk in any direction at the airport you will spot art. Some of it you’ll love. Some of it you may not care for. But all of it adds to the experience of being at the airport.

Countree Music (the ‘tree’ image above), is one of the first works purchased for the airport back in 1991. It is in Terminal A and was created by singer-songwriter Terry Allen. He also created the terrazzo floor surrounding the tree that depicts a map showing Houston as the center of the world. Pick a spot to stand on that floor near the tree and listen: there’s an original soundtrack of 16 songs recorded by Allen with the help of various musicians, including David Byrne from the Talking Heads.

Fiesta Dancers by Latino artist Luis Jimenez shown alongside High Flying by Larry Schuekler

The Terminal A Connector Gallery is both filled with art and is a great spot to avoid the noise and hustle of the airport. Here, away from the gates and the overhead announcements, you’ll find 20 vitrines filled with new and existing artwork from the collection- sometimes in the same display case.

For example, Fiesta Dancers by Luis Jimenez is paired with High Flying by Larry Schuekler. “Both sculptures explore the joy of dance from two different cultural perspectives,” says DuLaney.

(Photos courtesy Houston Airports)

Something Fishy Spotted at Seattle-Tacoma Int’l Airport

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Sometimes the coolest stuff is below you

You know how during the airline safety instructions (you pay attention, right?) they say the nearest exit may be behind you?

Well, sometimes at the airport the coolest art features may be below you.

At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) one of the artworks is a river of 300 brass fish running along the terrazzo floor in Concourse B.

The work is called Flying Fish and is by Judith and Daniel Caldwell.

Most of the fish are regular fish, but there are some unusual ones in there.

Including the fish spotted swimming with a suitcase.

We’ve been walking over the floor and appreciating the fish for years, but yesterday was the first time we noticed this bonus traveling fish.

Maybe it was because it was early in the day and we could actually take our time walking down the concourse.

But we think it was because after being so nervous about traveling during the pandemic, we’re finally starting to go back to our normal travel mode of being excited to travel and alert to everything around us.

Even the art on airport floors.

“The Phoenix” at PHX Airport & What We Learned About Lost Amenities

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Few airport rental car centers are places you want to hang out in for longer than you have to.

But the rental car center at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is an exception.

The big, bright, open lobby has a cafe in the center with comfortable chairs and there’s artwork from the collection of the Phoenix Airport Museum all over the facility, including down the hallways that lead to the restrooms.

Here’s a link to a guided tour of the art on display at the PHX rental car center that’s yet to be updated with the newest and biggest installation: a three-panel mural by Paul Coze titled “The Phoenix” that is 75 feet wide and 16 feet high.

The mural was installed in PHX Terminal 2 back in the early 1960s. But when Terminal 2 was demolished, the mural was moved here. You can learn more about the artist, the images in the mural, and the heroic effort it took to safely remove the mural from Terminal 2 and reinstall it at the rental car center here and in our article for The Points Guy here.

But we want to take a few moments to talk about – and mourn – the amenities that were once in PHX Terminal 2.

What Once Was at PHX Terminal 2

When Terminal 2 opened at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in the 1960s it was one of the most modern airport terminals in the country.

PHX shared a list of the amenities at the new, modern, terminal.

In addition to a long concourse with 10 gates and an indoor (indoor!) baggage carousel, the terminal had a hotel reservation kiosk with individual phones connected directly to each hotel’s reservation desk.

Other amenities included a game room with pinball machines, a rooftop observation deck, shops, a bank, a barbershop, a flower cart, a cocktail lounge, a restaurant with a glass-enclosed terrace, and, up above, The Phoenix mural by Paul Coze.

All those terminal features were certainly swanky for the time. But what really caught our attention was the nursery where passengers and airport visitors could leave their kids while they enjoyed all the amenities in the terminal.

Over the years, many (OK, most) of those amenities were set aside.

And over time the terminal was remodeled in such a way that “The Phoenix” mural was no longer easy to see or fully appreciate.

According to Gary Martelli, Phoenix Airport Museum manager & curator, during the first remodel, in the 1980s, parts of the mural became obscured when the terminal ceiling was lowered, and the columns were rounded. In the 1990s, a new restaurant was built with a vent hood in front of the mural. Then, in the early 2000s, security enhancements created a long wall bisecting the Terminal 2 lobby and further obscuring views of the mural.

Now, in its new home in the southwest corner of the central escalator lobby in the PHX Rental Car Center, “The Phoenix” is easy to see and impossible to miss. Nearby are exhibit cases with information about Terminal 2 and artist Paul Coze, along with photos from the initial installation of the mural. As a nice touch, there are also viewing telescopes (at two heights) to allow visitors to take a closer look at the details and embellishments in the mural.

At the Airport: News from GSP, FLL & Alaska Airlines

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GSP Airport Debuts a History Museum

South Carolina’s Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) celebrated its Dedication Day on November 4, 1962.

Fifty-nine years later, the airport unveiled its History Museum, detailing decades of serving the community.

The 350 square foot History Museum is near the Escape Lounge in GSP’s Grand Hall and is accessible to departing and arriving passengers 24 hours a day.

The museum gives visitors a detailed look at GSP from the founders’ vision in the 1940s through the present day and on to future plans. Exhibits include photos, videos, and first-hand accounts of the airport’s impact on the region. A special section is dedicated to the Flatwood Peaches baseball team that played on fields where the airport is located.

Airport Employees Share Their Art at FLL

In Florida, Broward County’s Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) is hosting the sixth installment of its employee artwork exhibition titled I Bet You Didn’t Know. This year, the exhibit showcases 46 artworks by 28 FLL employees and is on view through March 17, 2022, in the walkway connecting Terminals 3 and 4.

The work includes paintings, drawings, collages and acrylic pours, by artists whose airport jobs include security personnel, vendor operators, flight attendants, and other professions.

You can see all the works in the FLL exhibition online here.

John Berry ‘Jurassic Airport’

Alaska Airlines Now Serves Boxed Water

Next time you’re served a cup of water on Alaska Airlines, you’ll notice it being poured out of a box, not a plastic bottle into a paper, not a plastic cup.

This week Alaska Airlines did a great thing for the environment by swapping out single-use plastic water bottles and plastic cups for Boxed Water Is Better brand cartons and recyclable paper cups in the main cabin on all its flights.

The carrier made the switch in the First Class cabin a while back, so now Alaska is laying claim to the title of the first in the industry to move completely away from plastic for its water service.

That’s a big deal because this will eliminate about 32 million plastic water bottles and 22 million plastics cups per year from Alaska flights. The 1.8 million pounds of single use plastics per year avoided is equivalent to 18 Boeing 737s. You can read more about the program and the Boxed Water is Better Brand company in the story we wrote for The Points Guy.

At the Airport: Name SEA’s Robot + Play at SJC + See Nature at IND

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Help Name SEA’s Food Delivering Robot

A few months back, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) joined the list of airports offering mobile food ordering. The OrderSEA program works with the Grab and At Your Gate programs, offering pick-up and gate delivery options from more than 16 airport food outlets.

As a bonus, some travelers who order gate delivery find the At Your Gate delivery person accompanied by a Gita-branded robot like the one at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) named Nom Nom.

Now that it has been on site a while, SEA wants the Gita robot to be part of the permanen team. So they’re asking the public to help choose a name.

Have any ideas?

New Play Area at Mineta San Jose Int’l Airport

There’s a new kid’s play space at Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC).

Called Zoom Zone and located in Terminal B between Gates 24 and 25, the 600-square foot space was created with support from Zoom (Zoom Video Communications Inc.) and has an aviation theme.

Features of the Zoom Zone include a Pin Screen, a Bird Climber, a Zoom Plane, and a Kinectic Butterfly. There’s also an Alphabet Airplane that invites kids to open airplane window shades and discover objects representing destinations.

 

Nature Photos at IND Airport

Camouflaged Spider by Ronda Hamm

 Indianapolis International Airport (IND) is hosting a new photography exhibition titled Indiana, Naturally through December 2021 in both the Ticketing Hall and in cases in Concourses A and B.
The exhibition is part of a larger, ongoing cultural collaboration between the Indianapolis Airport Authority and the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Here are a few of the images. See more here.

Blue Sky Coreopsis by Jeanette Jeanette Jaskula
Zalman Wainhaus, Somewhere Silent

Victorian Wallpaper at SFO

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Is SFO an airport or a museum?

Now that we’re back to traveling more, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to visit San Francisco International Airport (SFO), home to the SFO Museum, which is fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.

SFO is both an airport AND a museum. So, we always make sure to choose the longest layover we can when changing planes at SFO. Not just because we love airports, but because we also love museums. And the SFO Museum always has multiple exhibitions scattered throughout the terminals.

One of the newest exhibitions is The Victorian Papered Wall, which is on view in the International Terminal Main Hall.

Why have an exhibition about wallpaper?

From the press release:

From its inception, wallpaper imitated luxurious materials, providing a more affordable alternative to tapestries, fabrics, mural paintings, and architectural elements. Crafted in repeating rolls and pasted to walls, this decorative art has an ephemeral quality unlike any other. Wallpaper reflects the design styles popular at the time, and in the late nineteenth century during the Victorian Era (1837–1901), walls richly came to life. English “design reformers” insisted on abstract, flat patterns, opposing fashionable French three-dimensional designs. Meanwhile, the Aesthetic Movement, which burgeoned in England, emphasized artful interiors in the 1870s and ‘80s. Eclecticism prevailed—designers drew freely from world cultures and centuries past.

This exhibition features art wallpapers created by Bradbury & Bradbury, based in Benicia, CA. The company hand silkscreens hundreds of historic designs using oil-based paints. Their most complex paper, St. James, requires seventeen individually applied colors. In addition to Victorian-era patterns, the company makes wallpaper using patterns from the Art Deco era, the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. We’re hoping to find the wallpaper from our childhood home in there somewhere.

Here are more samples of the wall and ceiling papers you’ll see in six Victorian-era room sets at SFO.

All images courtesy SFO Museum.

Travel Tidbits from an airport near you

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Discounts at Boston Logan Airport in honor of the Boston Marathon – plus free socks

To celebrate the return of athletes to Boston for the Boston Marathon, passengers who use the online ordering platform BOS2GO at Boston Logan Airport (BOS) for express pick-up or delivery direct to their gate will receive 26.2% off their order. The discount amount is linked to the length of the marathon – 26.2 miles – and is good through October 13.

Use the code RUNBOS at checkout on the BOS2GO website or scan the QR code on the dedicated signage. Anyone who chooses delivery instead of pickup will also receive a pair of complimentary BOS2GO branded athletic socks.

Colorful Canopies at ATL in honor the Pride Flag

Animated art tour of Dallas Love Field

Here’s a short video tour of some of the art at Dallas Love Field. It seems to be designed for kids but anyone will enjoy seeing and learning about some of the great artwork at DAL Love Field.

San Antonio Int’l Airport lights up

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Yes, it looks pretty. But this month the lights at San Antonio International Airport (SAT) are supporting two important national campaigns: Breast Cancer Awareness and Domestic Violence Awareness.

SAT is turning its lights pink to acknowledge Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The airport is partnering with local groups to promote the “Real Men Wear Pink campaign. The campaign raises money for breast cancer research and encourages men and women to get breast exams.

SAT is also participating in the Purple Porch SA Initiative. This campaign raises awareness about domestic violence and the airport’s lights are turning purple to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The lights will alternate between purple and pink until October 31.

As part of the the local campaign, a sculpture made of bras and ties is being commissioned.

Travelers are invited to donate to the sculpture’s creation by dropping bras and ties in bins placed at the information desks in the baggage claim areas of both SAT terminals.

We suggest bringing your donations along with you; not undressing on site.

The sculpture will be unveiled next year and then travel around the city and state to raise awareness of the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women.

The last day to donate bras or ties is October 31.