art at airports

Places we’d go. Things we don’t want to miss.

Vacations, , , ,

Las Vegas wants you

Visitor numbers to Las Vegas have been declining. And the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is rolling out a national “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” campaign to lure visitors back.

In addition to the 60-second TV ad (below) that was launched during Thursday’s NFL season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, the campaign includes a 3D anamorphic billboard in Times Square that will debut on Monday, September 15 and will feature images that seem to pop out of the 2D panel.

The campaign will also greet visitors at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) at the rideshare pickup zone in Terminal 1.

Starting Friday, Sept. 12, the “Fabulous Pickups” will feature colorful lighting, plush seating, music, and a neon selfie wall.

During special occasions, the zone will also host live performances, DJs and more.

Here’s a mock-up. But note the ‘note’ in the lower right-hand corner: “Purple benches will be finished in laminate, not tufted upholstered as shown.”

Tufted upholstery or not, this will be a welcome upgrade from the garage space that’s currently covered in cigarette butts.


Seattle’s Museum of Flight celebrates turning 60

Seattle’s Museum of Flight is marking its 60th anniversary with two days of events and special exhibitions on Saturday and Sunday, September 13 and 14.

During the weekend, the museum will also debut the newest addition to its aircraft collection: a classic Learjet 24A, which is about 60 years old.

Registered as N1965L, this plane was the twelfth in a production line of iconic personal jets that helped define the Sixties jet set, the museum explains.

Fresh Art at Denver International Airport

Denver International Airport (DEN) is showcasing Calaveras en Mi Ciudad, a mobile art exhibition that celebrates and pays tribute to Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), a holiday and day of remembrance in Mexico. 

Look for this artwork from November 3, 2025, to November 3, 2026, on DEN’s A-Bridge and on Concourse A west, near Gate A19.

Raven Visits SFO.

Art, ,

The Stuck at the Airport team is a big fan of both the work of Seattle-based glass artist Preston Singletary and the impressive exhibits at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) that the SFO Museum puts together.

So we’re delighted that the newest SFO Museum exhibition at SFO is Preston Singletary: Raven Visits SFO.

The Tlingit and other native Northwest peoples, revere the Raven character as not only a creator of the world but also a trickster and a transformer.

Singletary’s Tlingit heritage and culture is reflected in his modern studio glass sculptures. For this exhibit, he’s collaborated with Garth Stein, a New York Times bestselling author who is also of Tlingit ancestry, and both the sculptures and the narrative text explore what Raven might be up to these days.

Preston Singletary: Raven Visits SFO is on view pre-security International Departures Hall of the San Francisco International Airport from June 21, 2025­ ­– October 18, 2026.

(All images courtesy of SFO Museum)

Airport amenity of the week? MIA memory lane

Art,

A temporary art mural at Miami International Airport (MIA) offers a trip through time.

The mural is a collection of images and video content spanning from the 1920s to the present and includes home movies, travelogues, promotional films and news footage documenting growth and events that changed South Florida.

Images include photographs of the original Miami Daily News building (now Freedom Tower) and Flagler Railroad construction to more recent images of the Miami Marlins’ first World Series run and the Miami Grand Prix.

Local influential figures, historical personalities, and key events that have shaped Miami-Dade County and the state over the last century are also featured.

The images and videos are from the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives, a collection of film and video related to Florida, with a particular emphasis on television news and home movies from the twentieth century.

The exhibition, Wolfson Archives: Celebrating 40 Years of Collecting, Preserving, and Sharing South Florida’s Visual History is on view at Miami International Airport until September 2025 at the Concourse E arrivals level near Door 11, pre-security. 

All Images Courtesy of The Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives & Miami International Airport.

Airport attractions: horses, stars & free cards for moms

Events, , , , ,

Whoa, Nellie: thoroughbreds at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport

They’re not flying horses. But if you’re flying through Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) you can take a selfie with a horse.

The 150th Preakness Stakes – the second race in the Triple Crown series of thoroughbred horse races – takes place at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday, May 17.

To celebrate the Preakness Stakes race and the accompanying Preakness Festival, two large models of thoroughbred horses are now on display at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Both horses are located on the upper level of the airport, near the center of the terminal and the C security checkpoint. One horse is located pre-security and the other is located post-security.

Passengers may snap a selfie with one or both of the horses.

But, unfortunately, no rides.


Fresh art at Denver International Airport

We’re looking forward to flying into Denver International Airport (DEN) soon and seeing this cool new constellation-inspired artwork near Gate C54.

Free Mother’s Day cards at Norfolk Int’l Airport

Flowers, phone calls, brunch, and big hugs are in store for many moms this weekend.

And maybe a bonus postcard.

Over Mother’s Day weekend Norfolk International Airport (ORF) will be handing out free “Thanks, Mom” postcards at the Information Desk between 9 a.m. and 9 p.,m.

They’ll even give you a free stamp to send that postcard (while supplies last).

Museum Monday: Chinese baskets at SFO Airport

Art, ,

A new exhibition from the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) celebrates the artistry of Chinese basketry and containers, many of which feature hand-painted motifs and auspicious symbols.

Portland Craft: Chinese Woven Baskets and Containers is on view post-security in SFO’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1 from April 19, 2025­, to June 7, 2026.

Here are some notes about the craft of Chinese basketry from the exhibit curators.

Baskets range in size, form, and usage—from sewing baskets and hat containers to food-carrying baskets and storage containers for grain, clothing, and other domestic items.

Betrothal or gift baskets, some of the most ornate Chinese baskets, are filled with food and gifts and given to the bride-to-be by the groom and his family.

Still made today in several southeasteHrn provinces, many of these specimens are now intended for the tourist or international market.

However, the SFO Museum exhibition features baskets from the 19th to early 20th century. Included are some baskets that not woven at all but are crafted from wood and laquered to mimic the form of a basket.

Here’s a sampling. All images courtesy SFO Museum.

Fresh art at MSP + Airport libraries

Books,

Fresh art at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

The Arts@MSP program at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) presents to new temporary exhibits.

Purely Textual Map Point, by Alison Price,  is a collection of organic and mineral structures on canvas wity metal leaf, glass, handmade paper and found metal. Look for the display in MSP Terminal 1, near Gat C6 through April 1, 2026.

Chorus, by Alexandra Beaumont, celebrates “the freedom and power of the dance floor,” and is a 12X48-foot artpiece made up of 36 hand-sewn squares of textile collages.

Look for Chorus in Terminal 1, on the Tram East platform through March 1, 2027

Pick up a book at the airport

Last week was National Library Week and a good time to remind travelers that many airports maintain book corners where travelers can leave a book they’ve finished reading and pick up a new one. For free.

The tradition of airport libraries goes back to 1962, when a branch of the Nashville Public Library opened at Nashville International Airport (BNA).

Staffed by a librarian who received an extra $4 in her paycheck to cover airport parking, the Nashville Public Library reading room was the first time a public library was established in a municipal airport.

As a bonus, patrons could check out reproductions of well-known artworks.

These days, airport libraries come in a variety of formats. Here’s a sampling.

Miami International Airport (MIA) has a mini-lending library that holds up to 100 books at a time.

Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) has a book exchange center in Terminal A.

And at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library shares space with the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum on the Departures Level of the International Terminal Main Hall.

You’ll also spot Little Free Libraries at many airports.

Here’s a pretty one at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

Let us know when you spot a library at an airport you’re passing through.

Turn travel into poetry at San Diego Int’l Airport

Art,

 

Passengers traveling through San Diego International Airport (SAN) may have their travel tales turned into poetry.

Now through April 29, the airport’s Spring 2025 Performing Arts Resident, Poets Underground, will be onsite in the terminals at their luggage-inspired stage called The Great Poetic Baggage Exchange.

The artists will be inviting and enticing travelers to engage in conversations and mural paintings around five travel-inspired themes: Adventure, Baggage, Connection, Checkpoint and Rise.

The stories and images gathered at SAN will help the arts residents create poems and other artworks that will be then be featured in three airport performances on May 2, 6, and 8.

Could be fun!

SFO Museum celebrates San Francisco

Museums, ,

 

Here’s a great reason to plan or be thankful for a long layover at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

The SFO Museum‘s newest exhibition, San Francisco: City of the World, offers travelers a thoughtful, fun and educational look at the iconic city’s colorful history.

Find it post-security in Terminal 2 through July 6, 2025.

A preview of images and information from the exhibit is below.

Content and images courtesy of SFO Museum.

In 1848, gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The following year, more than seven hundred ships arrived in San Francisco.

The Gold Rush transformed the region into a bustling city of approximately twenty-five thousand inhabitants, including thousands of Chinese immigrants who established California’s oldest and largest Chinatown.

Andrew Smith Hallidie (1836–1900) tested the first cable car in 1873 on Clay Street and public service began in September that same year.

By the turn of the twentieth century, San Francisco was known as the “Paris of the West,” until the 1906 earthquake and resulting fires leveled the city.

The resilient metropolis was quickly rebuilt, and during the early 1900s numerous San Francisco landmarks, such as Coit Tower (1933) and the Golden Gate Bridge (1937)—the most photographed bridge in the world—were built. In addition to its natural beauty and historical sites, San Francisco has long served as a meeting ground for diverse groups of people and countercultures, which are also explored throughout the exhibition.

“Made in Miami” film posters on exhibit at MIA Airport

Art, ,

Love movies?

Then be sure to look for this film-related exhibition the next time you visit Miami International Airport (MIA).

MIA Galleries and Film Miami are presenting a selection of film posters spanning seven decades of motion pictures shot in Miami and surrounding areas.

And Now, Our Feature Presentation (great title for an exhibit about movies, right?) celebrates Miami and the Miami area as both an inspiration for filmmakers and as a popular filming location.

The exhibition is at the Gates D31 Gallery and features 33 Hollywood film posters spanning eight decades of motion pictures shot in Miami-Dade County from 1941 to 2024.

Here’s a flipbook preview of the new exhibition at MIA: And Now Our Feature Presentation: Miami Film Posters, 1941 – 2024.

Check to see if your favorite films or actors are included. You may be surprised.

Bradley International Airport (BDL) gets fresh art

Art, ,

Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport (BDL) partnered with RiseUP for Arts to add five murals inside the main terminal.

The landscapes and imagery represent New England and Connecticut, the Nutmeg State.

Hartford-based RiseUP for Arts has completed 250 murals throughout Connecticut since 2015. The murals at BDL are by Patrick Ganino, Micaela Levesque and Chris Gann. Take a look.