When passengers step foot in the new Des Moines International Airport in January, they might ask themselves if they’re in an airport or an art museum? In fact, both are true. The terminal architecture was designed around 5 custom sculptures from the very beginning. Alexa McCarthy, Executive Director of the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation explains how they worked with BNIM and HNTB to pull off the feat.
The 5 sculptures were build specifically for the Des Moines International Airport terminal design are focus around Iowa’s natural beauty. The uplifting and airy designs are meant to sooth passengers, and guests arriving to Iowa for the first time. McCarthy touches on the process and psychology that shaped all the strategic decisions.
Ahead of the new Des Moines International Airport terminal opening in January, McCarthy, executive director of the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, is directing a $4 million public art initiative embedded directly into the facility’s architecture. Joining the project in fall 2023 when architecture firms BNIM and HNTB reached 60 percent design completion, McCarthy collaborated to weave installations into structural end walls, glass partitions, and elevator shafts. Owned by the foundation on a minimum 15-year loan, the pieces are permanently integrated. “We partnered with the airport and the architects to create a space in which the artworks are kind of inextricably linked, architecturally integrated into the space,” McCarthy explained.
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Curating Universal Calm for Four Million Travelers
Mindful of transit stress, McCarthy curated calming environments centered on light, color, and natural fluidity. “Airports are a remarkable place to touch millions of people,” McCarthy emphasized, noting that universal aesthetics allow nearly four million annual passengers to encounter art serendipitously without visual strain.
Creating an Accessible Pre-Security Hub
Rather than placing art past security checkpoints, McCarthy positioned the core installations on the non-secure side, enabling passengers and visitors to experience the collection together. “Really, as you enter from that second-floor skywalk, you can see everything all at once,” McCarthy noted. From this vantage, viewers take in Ann Lindberg’s Viridis, Adam Frank’s Vital DSM, Alteronce Gumby’s mosaic Home Before Dark, and Gordon Huether’s suspended sculpture The River, which extends through security glass. Accessible audio descriptions, optimized with the Iowa Department for the Blind and recorded by Oak Ridge Teen Tech Studio students, accompany the works. Public access begins ahead of the opening with a 120-person preview and 100 free tour slots on December 13.