George Bush Intercontinental Airport

Airport art & amenities to look for during Thanksgiving travel

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Exhibition celebrating public art at Miami Int’l Airport

From now until July 2025, Miami International Airport (MIA) is celebrating local public art with a photography exhibition in the Gate D31 Gallery.

Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places: Celebrating 50 Years features 23 images of large-scale, integrated art commissions located countywide, from MIA to PortMiami, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, and several private-public partnerships on county land.

Santa’s mailbox at Lehigh Valley Int’l Airport

Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE) in Allentown, PA has a mailbox set up where kids can drop off letters to Santa.

The mailbox is in the Wilfred M. “Wiley” Post, Jr. Concourse (beyond the TSA Checkpoint) until Tuesday, Dec. 3rd.

Festival of Trees at Charlotte Douglas Int’l Airport

Those 20 decorated trees on the Concourse A Expansion at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) aren’t just pretty. They’re doing some good.

CLT’s Festival of Light features trees decorated in various themes including, “Tis the Season to Travel,” “Christmas Around the World,” “White Christmas,” “Queens Court,” “A Few of Our Favorite Things,” “Construction Fit for a Queen” and “Bon Voyage.”

The tree display is coordinated by HMS Host, CLT’s food and beverage concessionaire and each tree has a QR code that passengers and employees can use to donate to a charitable organization, including Second Harvest, Big Brothers Big Sisters, American Cancer Society, Make-A-Wish and Autism Speaks.

A second QR code lets everyone vote on their favorite tree through Dec. 28. The winning team will receive a trophy.

Eva Air issues Houston Rockets boarding passes

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Here’s a cute airline/sports team partnership.

As the Houston Rockets basketball team’s official airline partner, Taiwan’s Eva Air has created a Rockets-themed experience for passengers flying on the airline out of Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).

Houston travelers will see Rockets-branded signage and be able to download or print out Rockets-themed boarding passes and luggage tags.

The carrier currently flies between Houston and Taipei daily.

Travel Tidbits from Airports Near You

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A lot is happening at airports around the country this week. Here’s a round-up of some of what we’ve spotted so far.

First – see if you can catch this deal:

Low-cost Icelandic airline PLAY is offering flights from the U.S. to Iceland for $99 and to London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Paris for $109 from October 24 through 31. Book it here.

This deal is valid for flights booked from November 2024 through January 2025.

Trick-or-Treat at the airport? That could be fun.

In some cities, they do safe trick-or-treating events at the mall. But in Canton, Ohio, kids will head to the Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) on Halloween.

Greeting card vending machine at OAK

The Stuck at the Airport shopping team loves creative airport vending machines. Here’s a new one at OAK airport that dispenses greeting cards.

SLC Airport still celebrating Phase 3 opening

We can’t wait to visit Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) to see the new art at amenities that opened as part of the Phase 3 redevelopment.

Fresh art at Bush Intercontinental Airport

And this week Bush Interncontinal Airport (IAH) opened a lovely Terminal D West Pier.

Flying this week? Look for this airport art

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Cool Clay exhibit at Denver International Airport

Artist: Dean Goss

We’re not sure how we missed the announcement of this cool exhibit at Denver International Airport (DEN). But if you’re passing through DEN this month, be sure to take a moment to visit the Colorado Clay exhibit near the A-Bridge checkpoint.

Visual Artists at Work at IAH & HOU Airports

Houston Airports owns one of the country’s largest public art collections. Now it has an Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program.

During a three-month-long residency, visual artist and educator Jaymes Earl will work with textiles at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). Visual Artist and educator Mathieu JN Baptiste will paint at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU).

Houston Airports will provide each artist with an easel, a workstation, and a monthly stipend to cover their art supplies. And the traveling public will get to see artists at work. Both artists will be working in prominent spots in the airport and, to maximize interaction with travelers, they’ll be doing much of their work in the evenings and during weekends.

“As air travel returns to pre-pandemic levels and with these artists in the airports during the holidays, our travelers will have an extraordinary experience to enjoy art and culture without ever having to leave the airport,” said Alton DuLaney, Curator of Public Art for Houston Airports.

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)