Albany International Airport

Airport art: definitely worth a look

Art, ,

Next time you’re at the airport, take a moment to look around. Not just at all the shops, restaurants and harried holiday travelers, but at all the really great art.

(Photo: From Inside Track exhibit; courtesy San Francisco International Airport)

In addition to some truly wonderful – and valuable – collections of permanent and site-specific art, many U.S. airports offer ambitious rotating schedules of art, history and cultural exhibitions as intriguing as anything you’ll find in town.

And this time of year, who has time to go into town anyway?

For a preview of some fun stuff currently on view in the nation’s airports take a look at my “At the Airport” column posted today in USAToday.com: Airport round-up: Best exhibits at a terminal near you. There’s a great slide show accompanying the column, but here are few extra images we didn’t have room for.

From the Stitchalicious exhibit of “sweets” made from felt, brillo pads and other non-edibles by Mindy Sue Meyers at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

(Photo courtesy Phoenix Airport Museum).

This Beech Nut Circus Wagon, is one of the “jaw-dropping and wondrous” objects from 25 regional museums on display at New York’s Albany International Airport.

(Photo courtesy – New York State Museum)

Airport art inspires marriage proposal

Art,

Here are some images from a cool site-specific art installation currently at New York’s Albany International Airport.

Joy Taylor’s Dream of Flight fills three soaring ceiling wells and is made from 240 shimmering, oversized, blue, gold and green foil leaves that give the illusion of falling

According to Sharon Bates, the Director of the Art & Culture Program at Albany International Airport, the piece really captivated one young woman passing through the airport with her boyfriend on their way to a cruise. So instead of waiting to propose to her at sea as planned, the boyfriend dropped to one knee and proposed right there.

I bet she said yes.

Joy Taylor’s Dream of Flight is on the second floor of Concourse B at Albany International Airport through 2010.

(All photos courtesy Albany International Airport)

Hopped up about “The Lineman”

Art, History

If you find yourself flying into or out of New York’s Albany International Airport anytime soon, leave time to explore the airport’s top notch art and history exhibits and do some shopping at Departure, the airport shop filled with items from more than 60 regional museums and cultural institutions.

While you’re there, consider a side-trip to Stockbridge, Ma., about an hour away. Verizon just donated the painting titled “The Lineman” (appraised value $2 million) to the town’s popular Norman Rockwell Museum.

According the museum, “The Lineman” was used as an ad for AT&T in Life magazine and more than 100,000 poster-sized color reprints were sent out to the public and to telephone company employees.

181lineman.jpg

(Press release photo: ©1948 Norman Rockwell Licensing Company)

And just for fun, check out this unusual lineman. He’s on-duty 24/7 outside city hall in Milton-Freewater, Oregon. Appraised value? Priceless….
lineman-frog.JPG

Photo courtesy city of Milton-Freewater