USA Today published the 10 Winners in the ‘Best U.S. Airports for Art’ Readers’ Choice contest category: they are as follows:
#1 Denver International Airport – DEN Denver International Airport (DEN) has changing exhibits and over two dozen artworks created specifically for the building. Leo Tanguma’s mural, Children of the World Dream of Peace, has generated some fanciful conspiracy theories, but everyone gets a giggle from Gary Sweeney’s America, Why I Love Her, which celebrates family vacations and roadside attractions.
#2 Albuquerque International Sunport – ABQ In addition to its temporary exhibitions, Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) has a 113-piece art collection of paintings, sculptures, pottery and other items displayed inside and outside of the building and in the rental car facility. Highlights include “Dream of Flight”, a monumental bronze sculpture by Lincoln Fox, and a 1914 Curtiss biplane.
#3 Philadelphia International Airport – PHL Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) has a robust program of temporary exhibitions and permanent work. Included is the crowd-pleasing Impulse, by Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schecter, in Terminal A – West. The piece features over 6,500 cast models of bird species suspended on 5,302 cables. Altogether, they appear to lift into flight and transform from a waterfowl into a passenger jet.
#4 Pittsburgh International – PIT Highlights of the artwork at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) include Pittsburgh, a giant mobile by Pennsylvania-born artist Alexander Calder that floats over the airside central atrium, and an Andy Warhol exhibition. Included are prints, photos, memorabilia and wallpapers linked to the Pittsburgh-born artist, on loan from the city’s Andy Warhol Museum.
#5 San Francisco International – SFO The only U.S. airport with an accredited museum program, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has a growing collection of permanent public art pieces. Among the selection is “Every Beating Second” by Janet Echelman, and twenty galleries offering a rotating schedule of art, history, science and cultural exhibitions.
#6 Mineta San Jose International – SJC As befits its Silicon Valley location, when Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) rebuilt Terminal B, it installed forward-thinking, high-tech temporary and permanent artwork. For instance, Björn Schülke’s “Space Observer”, a 26-foot-tall sculpture sitting on 8-foot-tall legs that both captures and displays images from its surroundings.
#7 Albany International Airport – ALB New York’s Albany International Airport (ALB) has no permanent works of art in its collection, but its many gallery spaces and exhibition cases stay filled with the work of local and regional artists and loans from area museums. Among the works on indefinite loan is “Flying Fish”, by Lillian Mulero, which turns a ten-foot, round concourse window into an aquarium.
#8 Austin-Bergstrom International – AUS Much of the artwork at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) reflects the local and regional landscape, history and culture. That includes the vibrant music scene, which is celebrated in part with a collection of eight ten-foot-tall guitars in the baggage claim area, commissioned by Gibson Guitars and decorated by local artists.
#9 Chicago O’Hare International – ORD Besides the four-story-high, 72-foot skeleton model of a Brachiosaurus dinosaur in Terminal 1, Concourse B, the most iconic installation at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) is Michael Hayden’s “The Sky’s the Limit.” The often-photographed, mile-long kinetic light sculpture is located in the tunnel connecting Concourses B & C.
#10 Sacramento International Airport – SMF More than a dozen major public art pieces were commissioned for Sacramento International Airport’s (SMF) new Central Terminal B in 2011. However, Lawrence Argent’s 56-foot-long, aluminum red rabbit sculpture, titled “Leap,” grabs the most attention. Frozen mid-jump in the Ticket Hall, the rabbit appears to be headed towards a hole in the giant suitcase on the floor below.
So as you travel this holiday season — tell us which airports are your favorites for PUBLIC Art!
