Whenever you think of 狐狸视频 Lambert International Airport, it is almost certain you do not visualize it as an art museum. But perhaps you should.
The airport鈥檚 evolving and ever-expanding Art and Culture program includes exhibition spaces scattered throughout the terminals that display new art every six months, as well as permanent installations on walls and even inlaid into the terminal floor.
Some art is displayed before passengers pass through security check points. Other galleries are located alongside the people movers and on the walls of the terminals after TSA checkpoints have been cleared.
The program was initially part of a broader effort to spruce up the facility after American Airlines dropped its 狐狸视频 hub in 2009.
Airport Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge recalls, 鈥淭here was just a lot of angst and really a lot of uncertainty about the airport. We wanted to re-create a sense of pride in the airport. We started thinking how to bring more of 狐狸视频 into the terminals and get that sense of pride from all our visitors and residents in the region.鈥
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To achieve that, as well as to create a visually interesting welcome for the 16 million passengers passing through the airport yearly, the Art and Culture program was created. To date, art has been exhibited by more than 75 local artists.
鈥淲e hope people will know they are in 狐狸视频 as soon as they step into the airport, and realize the area is brimming with culture,鈥 Hamm-Niebruegge says.
In fact, having art displayed throughout the airport had always been foremost in the mind of the late 狐狸视频an Gyo Obata, the world-renowned architect who designed the main terminal.
When the airport opened in 1954, modernist sculptures by the internationally acclaimed Henry Moore were displayed outside but were later sent to the 狐狸视频 Art Museum.
鈥淚n 2011 Gyo told me his vision was to bring art back to the airport,鈥 Hamm-Niebruegge says.
The first project of the Lambert Art and Culture Program was the creation of nine custom glass screens featuring artwork by local artists, which were installed throughout Concourses A and C in 2012. Since then, 12 additional spaces for art exhibitions have been installed, all reserved for local artists to exhibit their work.
Tim Meehan, co-owner of the I Need That Art gallery in Clayton, is one of the local artists whose work is currently on display. Meehan鈥檚 art has a travel theme that occurred to him as he was flying back home from Los Angeles and looking out of the window of the airplane.
鈥淭he series is called 鈥楩lyover Country,鈥欌 he explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a play on the negative connotation of that phrase that I juxtaposed to express the visual beauty and wonder of the Midwest that should not be dismissed. A place that should be visited, explored and enjoyed.鈥
鈥淚 think the program is a great thing for 狐狸视频, and a prestigious opportunity for the local art community to have our work seen by many of the 16 million people who pass through the airport each year,鈥 Meehan says. 鈥淲e have a very vibrant art scene here, with so many wonderful artists. It鈥檚 a great venue to show our collective talents. I don鈥檛 think the greater community realizes what an incredible arts community we have.鈥
Meehan also says the airport staff is wonderful to work with. Once he was selected, airport officials gave him a tour of the exhibit spaces so he could choose the best gallery to display his work. Then they painted the wall in a complementary color to best showcase his art.
Artists are solicited for an exhibition of their work in one of the galleries through a 鈥渃all for exhibitors鈥 posted on the airport website. About 100 apply with each opportunity. Then artists are chosen by a committee of citizens with extensive art backgrounds and knowledge. Once selected each artist is awarded a stipend of between $500 to $3500 based on the scale of the exhibit site and the artist鈥檚 time required to install and take down their exhibition.
In addition to the galleries dedicated to showcase local artists, 狐狸视频 institutions are also actively bringing art to the airport. Currently the World Chess Hall of Fame, located in the Central West End, has an exhibit taken from its collection of chess sets and chess related art.
鈥淥ne of our more unusual collections of art that has been on display was titled 鈥楳ud to Music,鈥欌 Hamm-Niebruegge remembers. 鈥淚t was sponsored by the Sheldon Art Galleries, and was musical instruments made of clay and porcelain from Mexico, China and France. They ranged in age from 100 B.C.E. through the 1980s.鈥
Other participating 狐狸视频 cultural organizations that have sponsored exhibits have included the Mercantile Library, the 狐狸视频 University Museum of Art, the Missouri History Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum.
Permanent art displays are solicited from internationally acclaimed artists. A large 30-foot-by-40-foot mosaic tile installation at the MetroLink stop in Terminal 1 was created by New York-based artist Sarah Morris. Titled 鈥淭he Building as a Pretext [Sound Graph,]鈥 it is a colorful site-specific artwork in which the motion of the lines, shapes and colors are based on a visualization of the sound created when the title of the piece is spoken.
Even the floor has become an unexpected canvas greeting passengers at the confluence of the C Concourse exit and the C concourse security checkpoint. There, local artist Alicia LaChance鈥檚 installation titled 鈥淭he Village鈥 was completed in 2012 and installed on the terrazzo floor. Inspired by the patterns and colors common in many folk traditions, it is a vibrant and happy welcome to arriving and departing travelers.
Airport funds intended for airport operations cannot be used to pay the expenses for the art program, so it is funded through grants, donations and an 鈥淎rt of Travel鈥 fund-raising gala held once a year. 鈥淚n 2022 the Kling Family Foundation donated $100,000, and in 2023 the gala raised $150,000,鈥 Hamm-Niebruegge says.
At a previous gala artists were commissioned to make copper jewelry out of scrap pieces of the airport鈥檚 copper roof after it was replaced, and the jewelry was sold.
鈥淲e are always looking for additional places to showcase art at the airport,鈥 Hamm-Niebruegge says, adding that 鈥渟pace for art is an important part of the design in the plans for an airport expansion.鈥
For more information the art currently displayed at the airport, to see permanent and past exhibits and to learn how to apply for work to be considered, visit: