"Detroit Metro Airport Misses Chance to Wow Passengers with Art"

Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Detroit Metro Airport Misses Chance to Wow Passengers with Art
The Detroit (MI) Free Press


The numbers are overwhelming for Laurel Fyfe.

About 12 million people a year will pass by her wave-like designs etched
into the curved glass panels of the underground tunnel at the Edward H.
McNamara Terminal, which opened Feb. 24 at Detroit Metro Airport.

"That's too awesome to think about," says Fyfe, 46, who began her career
designing glass tables, bowls and vases.

Today, Fyfe's Pontiac company, Fox Fire Inc., and cocreator Mills/James
Productions of Columbus, Ohio, will receive public recognition for their
two-year effort on the 700-foot tunnel. Plaques with their names will be
placed at entrances to the passageway connecting the concourses.

But the artful design of glass, synchronized colored lights and a
futuristic soundscape makes all too clear the striking lack of other
public art in the terminal. The terminal stretches about a mile, and
includes an indoor tram, food court and trendy retail outlets, several
specializing in Detroit, Motown and Michigan memorabilia.

"Right from the start, there should have been attention paid to how
public art could enhance the design and experience of the terminal,"says
Marilyn Wheaton, director of the Detroit Department of Cultural Affairs.

What's been lost, she says, is an opportunity to introduce millions of
Northwest passengers -- many passing through on connecting flights -- to
the creative spirit of the metro area.

For the last four years, Wheaton has asked airport officials about their
plans for public art. She says she was told that it would come after the
terminal opened. But that doesn't sound likely.

"Northwest has said they don't want any interference with the
architecture of the building, including art and advertising,"says Metro
spokesman Michael Conway."There's nothing on the table about public art.
Whatever is done must have the concurrence of our agreement."

Without public art at Metro, Jerry Herron wonders how much longer we'll
have to hear the joke about the behemoth tire on I-94 being the best
example of Detroit culture.

"There are notable cultural things in Detroit other than Red Wings
jerseys and photos of what the city used to be,"says Herron, director of
American studies at Wayne State University. "People at the airport are a
captive audience. What better place is there to make a statement about
the quality and spirit of our culture?

"If Northwest and Wayne County wanted to do something bold, they could
make the terminal into a contemporary art gallery for Detroit artists."

That's unlikely, since neither Northwest nor Wayne County has plans for
additional public art at the terminal, although the walls inside the
members-only World Club are adorned with mundane paintings.

"The terminal is designed with high ceilings to be simple and
clean,"says Northwest spokeswoman Mary Beth Schubert."Quite frankly, art
was not driving customer satisfaction. Customers told us they wanted
more room, more monitors and better signage. They didn't mention art."

Besides the tunnel, Schubert points to other works of art in the
terminal: a fountain spouting geometric sprays of water; murals
featuring Detroit historical figures, and Pewabic tiles on the pillars
outside rest rooms. All of these however, are part of the interior
design, rather than stand-alone pieces of art.

Promotional opportunities for the region's cultural institutions are
also being missed.

Henry Ford Museum has proposed hanging an antique airplane and
displaying several vintage automobiles from its collection."Right now,
we're at the talking state,"says Patricia Mooradian, the museum's
director of marketing."All of the museums in the area understand we have
a huge chance to educate the public about our culture."

It's done at other airports.

At San Francisco International Airport, works from local art and
historical museums are on exhibit. Currently there's an exhibit of the
cloths of Bali and the exhibit Science and Technology in California.

At Tampa International Airport, aquariums and aquatic exhibits combined
with works by local artists offer a taste of the local culture, says
airport spokesperson Brenda Geoghagan."We've figured a way to enhance
the architectural design with public art,"she says."We give tours, and
it's a chance for tourists and children to learn about Tampa."

The public art program in Tampa began in 1998, 30 years after the
airport opened. It's only a matter of time before more art appears at
airports, says Geoghagan."There are just too many up-sides not to get
into it."

She says an airport has to be stay away from a cookie-cutter approach,
with generic art that's easy to overlook.

"It should reflect the culture of the region,"she says.

"If Metro Airport chooses to use local artists' work, it'd make a
statement that there's an active art and cultural community here in
Detroit,"says Andrew Camden, a long-serving trustee of the Detroit
Institute of Arts who served on the 1987 commission that selected art
for People Mover stations.

"Public art programs generate synergy, it pulls people together,"he
says."You can have public art, and still have a terminal where
passengers have the space and other amenities they want."

Possibly at issue, says Herron, is the inferiority complex of Detroiters
when it comes to appreciating homegrown talent."We're more famous for
art and music (among) people living outside of Detroit than by those of
us living in Detroit."

Perhaps, he says, the tunnel is a start.

It combines Fyfe's organic forms sandblasted on laminated glass with
Mills/James' synchronized lighting and sound display. The effect is an
unexpected pulsating blanket cast over the common sights and noise of
passengers making their way to and from the gates.

"It definitely has a calming affect and slows you down,"says Mark
Menestrina, passing through the tunnel on his way to Phoenix with his
wife, Kathy."It's the kind of thing that finally brings Detroit up to
par with other major airports."

WHAT ART IS BEST?

What kind of art would you like to see in the McNamara Terminal?

What would say"You've arrived in Detroit!"?

Which artists should be featured? And what themes should be included,
such as Motown, sports, the auto industry?

Let us know.

Write: Art at Metro Airport

Detroit Free Press

Features Department

600 W. Fort Street, Detroit, 48226.

Fax: 313-222-5397

E-mail: features@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

WHAT IS PUBLIC ART?

Paintings, collages, sculptures and work in other media in parks,
atriums and inside or outside community buildings are considered public
art.

"The Spirit of Detroit"statue by the late Marshall Fredericks outside
the City-County Building is one of the most recognizable pieces of
public art in the region.

There are 52 pieces of public art within three blocks of People Mover
stations in downtown Detroit. Two of the most recent pieces are in Hart
Plaza: a tribute to the Underground Railroad and the monument to labor
now under construction.


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