Airport Art Takes Off
From Miami to Philadelphia to Seattle, airport art exhibits are entertaining passengers across the nation. Some of the projects are funded through Percent-for-Art programs; some airports fund their own programs. Some borrow exhibits from local museums, while a growing number curate their own exhibits, inviting local artists to submit work for slide registries, temporary exhibits, site-specific installations and designated gallery spaces. Why the growing buzz during the last few years? “The sense that I get is there were definitely airports out there that had art programs before 9-11,” says Greg Mamary, producer of special projects for the American Association of Airport Executives. “But once the dust settled, a lot of airports realized that art was a great customer service tool.”
Mamary organizes the annual Arts in the Airport Workshops. He invites representatives from airports who have already instituted art programs, as well as those who want to learn how to create one, to discuss presentation, funding and management. | | Above: From one perspective, Anthony Garner's Descending the Escalator looks like a cube, but from the view below, we see several pieces creating the illusion of the cube. This was a site-specific work for the Albany International Airport.
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The Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina is one of the newest to institute a program. The small airport holds regular open calls for artists living in the western North Carolina area and rotates its exhibits every few months. All of the work is for sale, with the airport retaining a 20 percent commission. The first exhibit opened in June 2007, and multiple works have sold. “Right now, we have a gallery space that all the passengers have to walk by,” says Amy Burritt, marketing coordinator for the airport and manager of the gallery. “We have also been approved by the airport authority board to expand the program in the spring to other areas of the terminal. We’ve gotten a lot of comments from artists that it’s been an easy program to apply to and be accepted.”
Albany International Airport will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Art and Culture program in 2008. The program blends work from local artists with pieces borrowed from museums in the Albany area. Though art is placed throughout the terminal, AIA is one of the few airports with a substantial dedicated gallery space. The gallery is located landside, enabling both passengers and locals from the community to view the rotating exhibits.
AIA is also one of the few airports with a staff specifically hired to maintain the art exhibits. Staff members act as gallery sales agents and coordinate merchandise in one of the gift shops with whatever exhibits are on display. Sharon Bates, director of the program, has presented topics at several Arts in the Airport Workshops and enjoys helping representatives with burgeoning programs realize their potential.
“We’re always getting new artists through the door and represented here,” she says. “I really see airports as kind of the future art patrons.”
More than 75 airports were represented at the last Arts in Airport Workshop. Be sure to watch for new airport art programs as they become available.
The following airports regularly call for artist submissions. Residency guidelines apply. Although most of these links do go straight to the "arts" pages of the airports, not everyone has their information online: Albany International (Albany, NY)
Asheville Regional (Asheville, NC)
Dallas/ Fort Worth International (Texas)
Denver International Airport (Denver, CO)
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)
Jacksonville International (Jacksonville, FL)
Okaloosa Regional (Eglin AFB, FL)
Seattle-Tacoma International (Seattle, WA)
Tucson Airport Authority (Tuscon, AZ) The following rarely put out direct art calls or acquire the bulk of their work through percent-for-art or public art programs:
Austin-Bergstrom International (Austin, TX)
Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood International (Broward County, FL)
Houston Airport System (Houston, TX)
Miami International Airport
Orlando International (Orlando, FL)
Philadelphia International (Philadelphia, PA)
Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)
Rhode Island Airport Corp
Salt Lake City International (Salt Lake City, UT)
San Diego International (San Diego, CA)
Toronto-Pearson International Airport
Victoria Airport Authority
The following are working toward instituting art programs:
Capital Region (Richmond, VA)
Gulfport-Biloxi International (Gulfport, MS)
Key West International (Key West, FL)
McGhee Tyson Airport (Knoxville, TN)
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Washington, DC)
If you know of any other airports that have or are working toward instituting art programs, please e-mail them to khall@ArtCalendar.com. From Our Readers: Art Calendar reader Melissa Chandon (www.MelissaChandon.com ) currently has an exhibition at the Sacramento International Airport, in the International Terminal. The exhibition was sponsored by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Council. Her contact was Alan Dismuke, Gallery & Collections Consultant, (916) 443-7862, CAadny57@comcast.net. "The exhibition has been really wonderful," she says. "I have received emails from travelers from all over the country." Thanks so much, Melissa! Art Calendar is the only subscription-driven, business-oriented magazine published specifically for visual artists. We aim to connect artists with income and exhibition opportunities, and help them build successful careers by teaching proper art marketing techniques from art professionals. Each month, we list art opportunities and calls to artists, including grants and fellowships for artists, competitions, juried exhibitions, art galleries reviewing portfolios, art festivals, artist residencies and more.
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