A Necessary Departure is a collection of works from 17 local artists and organizations that examines personal transformations and how the community has remade itself after the pandemic.
Featured work in the exhibition includes sculpture, painting, photography, ceramics, site-specific installation, and more. All exhibition pieces will remain on display through 2023.
Here is a sample of artwork from the show.
[“Oneness.” Artist: San Diego MTO School/Kerry Soori McEachern. Location: Terminal 2 East, Pre-Security, Gallery]
(“The Wonders of Plastic”/ Artist: Terri Hughes-Oelrich/Location: Terminal 2 East 2nd floor, Post-Security, gate 24)
Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) has a new interactive mural, titled “Fly With Us,” by local artist Matthew McDowell that invites passengers to take pictures with their mural ‘wings.’
Now introducing an interactive experience at RNO! When you #FlyRNO, we encourage you to strike a pose and capture the moment. Inspired by the beautiful Reno-Tahoe landscape, muralist Matthew McDowell brought to life Nevada symbols and the act of taking flight. #FlyWithUsRNOpic.twitter.com/hjLmAsVUad
Indianapolis artist Brenna McCarty has been commissioned to create a new art piece that will be the first permanent art installation since the new terminal opened in 2008.
Scheduled to be installed this fall, the new artwork will be a 40’ by 100’ hanging sculpture representing unity and global connection.
It will be suspended above the escalators and stairs leading into the Baggage Claim area of the terminal, so should be hard to miss.
This mural by Tasha Beckwith honors Indianapolis hair-care entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker, who is credited as being the first female self-made millionaire in America.
These Lounge-Like Chairs
These powered privacy chairs are usually seen in airline lounges. At IND you’ll find them in a gate hold area.
This Free Pop-a-Shot Basketball Game
At IND’s pre-security Civic Plaza, the Indiana Pacers Courtside Club celebrates the local Indiana Pacers basketball team. Adjacent to the restaurant is a free pop-a-shot basketball game.
This Bookstore
Airport concessionaire Hudson does a nice job with its Ink-branded shop selling books, magazines, and gifts in IND.
These Cute and Corny Souvenirs
Souvenir shopping is one our favorite things to do at airports. IND shops don’t disappoint.
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.
We’re setting off for Iceland in a few weeks to join Viking for one of their Welcome Back cruises. So we have been poking around the company’s website.
One impressive resource there for the general public is Viking.TV. It was created in response to the pandemic and this channel is chock full of videos about art, culture, history, food, music, architecture, and destinations around the world.
Our favorite feature is Museum Monday. Stop in and you’ll see that there are now more than 60 videos about museums and collections. including some wonderful behind the scene tours.
You’ll find your own favorites, but here are a few of the videos that captured our attention and our imagination this week. We started with a visit to the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, home to Thor Heyerdahl’s original Kon-Tiki raft and the papyrus boat Ra II.
We also went down a rabbit hole at London’s British Museum learning about how prepared the museum for lockdown and toured the collection of the Alaskan objects at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, England.
