Albany International Airport

Airport Observation Decks: Have a favorite?

Observation Decks, , ,

Vancouver Airport - New Observation DeckIn my At the Airport column on USATODAY.com this month, I offer a run-down of airport observation decks around the country.  I wanted to write about this because, while a lot of the amenities getting rolled out at airports these days are designed to make travelers forget they’re in an airport terminal, observation decks are all about airports, airplanes, and the magic of flight.

Unfortunately, a lot of airports that used to have official observation decks have shut them down. But here’s a round-up of some that still exist:

Minneapolis - Observation deck - wide

Minneapolis International Airport (MSP) MSP has an observation deck post-security on Concourse D, in Terminal 1. Built decades ago, the enclosed observation deck is only accessible via a set of stairs, but those who find their way up there are rewarded with great views in all directions.

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)

BWI - Observation rocking chairsYears ago, when BWI was known as Friendship International Airport, there was an outdoor observation deck.  Today there’s an enclosed Observation Gallery on the upper level of the airport, in the pre-security area between Concourses B and C. In addition to great views of airfield activities, there are rocking chairs, a children’s play area, and several exhibits related to aviation, including the nose cone, cockpit, landing gear and other sections of a Boeing 737-200 aircraft.

Albany International Airport (ALB) A pre-security observation area on the 3rd level of the terminal offers a panoramic view of both airport runways, all three wings of the terminal and, on a clear day, the southern Adirondack Mountains. A live feed of the chatter from the air traffic control tower is piped in and the airport’s art gallery is adjacent.

Albany - looking out from deck

Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) At the Albuquerque airport, the observation deck is located post-security, between the two concourses.  Equipped with bench seating, leather couches and chairs, this area offers travelers great airfield views as well as views of the Manzano Mountains and the Rio Grande.

ALB SUNPORT

Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) At Gerald Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, MI., there’s an enclosed observation deck, pre-security, that overlooks the airport runways.

Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) in Tennessee has an open-air deck, located pre-security, on the mezzanine level of the airport. The deck looks out over the airfield, Boone Lake, and off to the Appalachian Mountains.

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) opened a new observation area in July 2009 with floor-to-ceiling windows, complimentary telescopes, interactive kiosks, and several other amenities.  At the end of September, the observation deck on top of Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport will reopen. Like a lot of observation decks around the country, LAX had closed this area after 9/11.

View Of Downtown Los Angeles (2004)

Do you have a favorite airport observation deck or place to go outside the airport to watach plane?  If so, please tell us about it.

Greetings from: Albany International Airport

Art

Last week, I had a great time touring New York’s Albany International Airport (ALB).

There’s plenty to see:  in addition to exhibit cases filled with tantalizing treasures from area arts and cultural institutions, there are site specific installations and a wide variety of just plain fun exhibits, including Kenneth Ragsdale’s half-scale model of a 1965 Vista Cruiser station wagon towing a 1950’s style travel trailer:

Albany - The Quest - KenRagsdale

And, in the third floor gallery,  the new Out of this World exhibit, which includes Susie Brandt’s hand hooked rugs inspired by stumps and sewer drains:

Stumps and Drains series - Susie Brandt

Chris Harvey’s Seven Columns of Commerce and Pleasure

Albany - Seven Columns of Commerce and Pleasure - Chris Harvey

and his Totem for the New Green Initiative

Albany - Totem detail

This exhibition is up through the end of November at the airport’s third floor gallery, which is located pre-security, by the Observation Area.

Here’s a link for more information about this and other exhibits at the Albany Airport.

Want a great deal on some art? Try the airport.

Art,

Have you ever bought a piece of original art at an airport? It’s an increasingly popular and easy thing to do. It’s also a good deal for artists. “We have probably one of the most desirable exhibition venues in the region,” says Sharon Bates, director of the Arts & Culture program at Albany airport. “Partly because of the quality of our gallery program, but also because so many of the 3 million passengers who go through the airport each year can’t help but see the art.”

Asheville Airport gallery view

It’s also because, unlike traditional galleries where the standard commission can be between 50% and 60%, for the first ten years of its art program (1988-2008), the Albany airport took only a 30% commission on artwork sold. The commission rate was recently raised to 35%, but that’s still well below most gallery rates and any funds raised are used to help defray the cost of insuring, lighting, and promoting the regional artwork displayed. “It’s a win-win situation for everyone,” says Bates.

It’s a win-win for artists and art lovers at airports elsewhere as well. While the Nashville International Airport takes a 25% commission on art sold through its Arts in the Airport program, some airports, including those in Miami, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles, regularly put potential buyers in touch with artists exhibiting work at the airport without taking any commission at all.

To find out about how this worked out to the benefit of found metal sculptor Ralph Berger and several travelers who saw his work at Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina, see my At the Airport column, Artists find great display space – and buyers- at airports –  that posted today on USATODAY.com.

Ralph Berger artwork

Albany Int’l Airport art exhibit will be Out of this World

Art, Exhibits

The Art & Culture Program at New York’s Albany International Airport organizes some pretty cool exhibitions and creates space for the work of a lot of wonderful artists.

I hoping, for example, that this steel and chenille stem chandelier by Ginger Ertz, featured on the airport Web site, is still on view when I visit the airport this summer.

albany-ginger-erts-soft-chandelier

And I’m looking forward to seeing the latest exhibition in the Airport Gallery. “Out of this World”  (June 26th through  November, 2009) will feature the work of seven artists that will, promises the press release,  “tap the reservoirs of our known world to create forms that we feel both acquainted with and transported by.”

alb-summer-show

Not quite sure what that means, but the press release goes on to mention plastic dishware, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, tree stumps, sewer grates, and a staircase.

And all that sounds mighty intriguing.