ART COLLECTION
In the heart of Phoenix is one of the largest airport museums in the nation. The Phoenix Airport Museum is spread out in six buildings at three airports. It has a collection of more than 500 works of art and gallery spaces for exhibitions.
The museum serves the public at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and at its two auxiliary airports in Deer Valley and Goodyear. Most art and museum displays are in terminals rather than concourses so that visitors may enjoy them without going through airport security. Some displays are outdoors. All are free and most are accessible 24 hours per day.
Art at Sky Harbor has been a tradition since 1962 with the building of Terminal 2 which included “The Phoenix,” Paul Coze mural. As new terminals were built, art purchases were made by architects with input from citizens and the Aviation Board. When Terminal 3 was built in 1979, Phoenix corporations provided funds to purchase artwork.
In 1986, the City of Phoenix passed an ordinance to allocate funding of up to one percent of the city’s Capital Improvement Projects for public art. Today, the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture’s Percent for Art Program (formerly the Phoenix Arts Commission) administers aviation percent-for-art projects in collaboration with the Aviation Department’s Phoenix Airport Museum.
Currently, the airport’s collection includes more than 500 works of art throughout the airport system. Artwork continues to be added – and relocated – as the airport expands. The collection includes large murals and freestanding sculpture. It also includes portable works that are rotated throughout the airport system. These include paintings, photographs, ceramics and fine-art prints.
