Miami International Airport

Airport news from Miami and Albany Int’l Airports

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Flying somewhere this week?

If you are, it’s a good bet you may find yourself stuck at the airport somewhere longer than you intended.

But we’re here to keep you up-to-date on some of the on-the-ground amenities that might keep you informed and entertained.

Miami Int’l Airport has a LEGO Store

Salt Lake City International Aiport (SLC) was the first US airport to have a LEGO store. one. And now Miami International Airport (MIA) has one too.

MIA’s 742-square-foot LEGO® store opened in May and is located near gate D14. Hours: daily from 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Planting Utopia at Albany International Airport (ALB)

New York’s Albany International Airport (ALB) and its neighbor, the Shaker Heritage Society are jointly presenting work by artist Julia Whitney Barnes.

Barnes spent a year photographing and collecting specimens from over 150 plants growing in the Sharker Heritage Society’s herb garden, which is on the site of the first Shaker settlement in the United States.

The herb garden, and historic Shaker ‘gift’ or ‘spirit’ drawings, are the inspiration for the images and prints Barnes created during her year-long project going on view at Albany International Airport on July 16. There’s also a companion site-specific installation at the Shaker Heritage Society, which is a short walk from the airport.

At the Shaker Heritage Society’s 1856 Drying House, Barnes’ installation includes temporary murals on the exterior of the historic brick building. The images are stark blue and white silhouettes of herbs in bloom climbing the outside of the red brick walls. Inside, there are prints on fabric and hanging bunches of herbs from the garden. The murals and the installation will remain on view through summer 2023.

For the installation at Albany International Airport, Barnes made eight cyanotype paintings on paper with plants collected from the Shaker herb garden. (Cyanotype is an old photographic printing process that creates dark greenish-blue prints.)

These paintings are reproduced on aluminum panels that will be on view for three to five years in the pedestrian corridor linking the new south parking garage with the ticketing area.

On July 16, ALB Airport will also debut a six-month-long exhibition, called Planting Utopia, in the post-security Concourse A Gallery with artwork, preparatory sketches, and a documentary video about the collaboration.

(All images courtesy Albany International Airport)

Visit an Airport Museum on Int’l Museum Day

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New England Air Museum adjacent to Bradley International Airport (BDL)

May 18 is International Museum Day, which gives us an excuse to talk about some of the great museums in and adjacent to airports around the country.

Having a museum or museum program in an airport just makes so much sense. Millions of people pass through airports each year. Many passengers have plenty of downtime before their flights. And art or history exhibits in airports can connect passengers with a place, inspire them, educate them, or create those sought after moments of suprise and delight.

Here are a handful of airport museums and museum programs to look for on your next trip. Let us know if we missed your favorite.

Phoenix Airport Museum

The Phoenix Airport Museum at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) is one of the oldest and largest airport art program in the country. You’ll find permanent artwork and temporary exhibitions throughout the sprawling airport facilities, including in the rental car center and at the Sky Train stations.

SFO Museum

The SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is accredited by the American Alliance of Museum (AAM). In addition to permanent public art and more than a dozen temporary exhibitions at a time, the museum maintains a video arts program , student art programs, and photography galleries.

While the airport’s wonderful Aviation Museum & Library is currently closed for renovations, temporary exhibitions throughout the terminals currently celebrate everything from Early Women Aviators and their Aircraft to Victorian Wallpaper.

Julia Clark (1880–1912) at the controls of a Curtiss biplane  c. 1912. Courtesy SFO Museum

Mitchell Gallery of Flight at MKE

The free Mitchell Gallery of Flight at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) is located pre-security and open 24 hours a day. Exhibits include airplane models, aviation paintings, propellers, a scale model of the Milwaukee airport terminal as it looked in 1941, and sections dedicated to famous Wisconsinites in aviation history such as astronaut James Lovell and General Billy Mitchell, known as ‘the father of the U.S. Air Force.

You’ll find aviation-themed history exhibits and full-fledged aviation museums in and adjacent to many other airports too.

Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) in South Carolina has a 350-square-foot museum in its Grand Hall. The Frontiers of Flight Museum is on the southeast corner of Dallas Love Field Airport. And the New England Air Museum is adjacent to Bradley International Airport (BDL), in Connecticut.

And there are lots more.

Courtesy New England Air Museum

More airport museums and museum programs not to miss

Take a few moments to look around next time you’re at an airport and it’s a very good chance you’ll spot art and history exhibits you may have rushed by in the past. Curators at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), New York’s Albany International Airport (ALB), Denver International Airport (DEN), Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), Miami International Airport (MIA), Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), and many others do a great job filling the terminals and concourses with art and exhibits you’ll enjoy.

Quest by Bert L. Long, Jr

Fresh art at Miami International Airport

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(Kristi Bettendorf, Lignum vitae, Guaiacum sanctum, and Honeybee, Apis mellifera, Courtesy of the artist.)
 

Pollinators art exhibition at MIA celebrates South Florida plants

Pollinators, the newest art exhibition at Miami International Airport, features watercolor and mixed media works that give a close-up view of plants from South Florida and their animal and insect pollinators.

Focusing on these complex natural relationships, members of the Tropical Botanic Artists Collective illustrated birds, butterflies, moths, bees, wasps – even aquatic zooplankton – with the plants they pollinate. The artists in Pollinators worked in collaboration with Biscayne National Park in Florida.

(Donna Torres, Wild Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum, and Western or European Honeybee, Apis mellifera, 2018, Courtesy of the artist.)

Find the Pollinators exhibition on Concourse E pre-security area on the arrivals level near Door 11.

Celebrities welcome you to Miami Int’l Airport

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Here’s another sign that the world of travel is moving back towards normal:

Miami International Airport (MIA) is bringing back celebrity welcome messages to its public address system.

The Voices of MIA program launched in 2019 and featured the voices of local celebrities including Miami Heat stars Alonzo Mourning and Udonis Haslem, celebrity chef Adrianne Calvo, Grammy-winning producer Emilio Estefan and telenovela star Jencarlos Canela.

The refreshed 2021 series of celebrity welcome messages includes rapper and singer Flo Rida; actor, singer and composer Carlos Ponce; celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein; rapper and TV personality Trina; and celebrity chef and TV personality Chef Pepín. Listen for the messages on MIA’s address system around the clock on a rotating basis.

And if you’re traveling through Miami International Airport, or have friends or family meeting you there or dropping you off, keep in mind this is one of the airports hosting a free COVID-19 vaccination site through July 31.

MIA’s Military Hospitality Lounge recently reopened as well.

Fresh art at Miami Int’l Airport

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Brian Reedy, UFO over Bombay, 2020

UFOs have been in the news lately. So we are pleased to see a piece of art featuring a UFO included in a new exhibition at Miami International Airport.

Key West and Other Unusual Places includes printed works by Miami-based visual artists and printmakers Brian Reedy and Tom Virgin.

Reedy has a fascination with the supernatural and Asian architecture. So the work above, UFO over Bombay, makes sense.

Tom Virgin’s work reflects his travels across the United States.

Tom Virgin, Big Shark (from Escape Series), 

The exhibit will be on display in the The Eye Has to Travel Gallery near Gate D29 until October, 2021.