Public Art at the Airport: ATL’s Wealth of Works

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DALLAS – Public art is everywhere. Cities seem keen on adorning parks, corners, squares, official buildings, and many other places with bright, colorful, interesting pieces that make the sometimes-dreary cityscape perhaps a little less dreary.

One can argue that, traditionally, one of the more dreary public facilities is the airport, with its long, repetitive corridors of gates and windows often looking out onto miles of empty asphalt.

True, avgeeks can always find something interesting to watch at the airport, but for much of the public, there’s not so much to see.  Thus, many airports have installed art to brighten up the facility and make the visit, and the wait for a flight, more interesting.

On a recent flight into Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL), I had the time to look around some of the concourses and view the artworks on display. ATL, of course, is huge. Humongous. Ginormous. And a complete overview of the art installations would take several hours and miles of walking the concourses.

However, in a relatively short amount of time, I was able to take a gander at some of the more prominent installations in the domestic terminals.

Zimbabwe Sculpture: a Tradition in Stone lies in the walkway between Terminals T and A at ATL.

The ATL Art Program


Atlanta International has displayed art throughout its concourses since the construction of the domestic terminal in 1979. At the outset the airport commissioned and installed several large-scale works. For its efforts, the airport won two GGovernors’Awards for the Arts. Unfortunately, following the initial enthusiasm, support tapered off and the artwork gradually fell into disrepair.

A quarter century later as Atlanta prepared to welcome the world for the 1996 Olympic Summer Games, the city commissioned new artworks for display at ATL. Pieces were displayed at every gate in the newly constructed Concourse E, and the airport hired two full-time managers to implement and maintain the art program. (A full history of the art program at ATL as well as applications to display work can be found here.)

The Art


Below are some of the pieces that caught my eye as I wandered through the terminals for a couple of hours last week.

“Zimbabwe Sculpture: a Tradition in Stone” is a permanent exhibit of sculpture at Hartsfield-Jackson. It is sponsored by the city’s Aviation Arts program and features sculptures by some of Zimbabwe’s best-known sculptors. There are more than two dozen pieces on display.

The exhibit is in the walkway between Terminals A and T. Take the moving walkway to see the display.

Flight Paths


Favoring the moving walkway again over the Plane Train, you can find another wonderful permanent installation: Steve Waldeck’s “Flight Paths.” Hanging from the ceiling on the 450-foot walkway between Terminals A and B, the airport installed the work in 2016 with a budget of US$4m.

Not only does it create a dark, moody, jungle/forest atmosphere in the underground passageway, but the sculpture, video, projection and light work comes replete with the sound of rain, thunder, wind and chirping birds.

“Belle” and “Bird Dog” by Mary Engle at Terminal E at ATL

Mary Engle


“Joan” by Mary Engle

At the top of the escalator at Terminal E, three pieces off to the left certainly catch the eye. Mary Engle, from Athens, Georgia, displays “Joan,” “Belle” and “Bird Dog”. 

The mixed media sculptures created with found objects offer a play on words and names, such as the bird dog made from found plastic and metallic birds.

One of the more whimsical showcases in terminal E is the display of dozens of retro/classic lunchboxes.

Any American child from the 1960s through the 1990s would be familiar, and probably owned, several of these. (My sister had the Snoopy lunchbox.)

Classic/Retro lunchboxes displayed in Terminal E at ATL

Heading toward the more remote gates of Terminal E, “Great-Grandma Loretta the Steward” by Courtney Stone is displayed along with her “Marion’s Parable” (both 2019).

“Great-Grandma Loretta the Steward” and “Marion’s Parable” by Courtney Stone is displayed in Terminal E at ATL.

Finally, at the outer reaches of Concourse E, we find perhaps the most familiar and entertaining piece in ATL’s collection. Craig Nutt’s Corncorde, part of his “Flying Vegetables” series. Nutt displays other pieces in museums including Atlanta’s High Museum of Art.

“Corncorde” by Craig Nutt

Featured image/all photos: John Huston/Airways

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