a day ago
Pittsburgh International Airport relocating famed kinetic mobile to new terminal
A longtime art piece that has hung from the ceiling of Pittsburgh International Airport on and off for almost 70 years will soon have a new home for travelers to view.
"Pittsburgh," the kinetic mobile by artist Alexander Calder, is being reinstalled this month in the new terminal's atrium to serve as both "a gently waving welcome and farewell," the airport said in a news release on Monday.
"People just expect to see the Calder at the airport," said Keny Marshall, the airport's manager of arts and culture.
Once installed, passengers and the public will be able to see the sculpture from eye level or above on the pre-security departure level of the new terminal. On the arrivals level, people will be able to look up at the sculpture and walk beneath it, Marshall said via the news release.
First installed in 1959 over the rotunda of the then-named Greater Pittsburgh Airport terminal, the mobile was also displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Art before moving to its most recent terminal in 1992.
Carol Brown, the former county parks director, was instrumental in getting the sculpture restored when it was hung incorrectly at the old terminal with its metal sections painted first yellow and green and then pink. Once it was restored, Brown advocated for the piece to be put in the then-new 1992 terminal.
"I would always stop to say 'Hi, Calder,' when I went through the terminal. And I am looking forward to being able to say that again in the new terminal," said Brown.
A special lift will be needed to attach the sculpture to the new terminal's ceiling, which is almost 80 feet high.
Other Calder mobiles have also been featured at airports across the country.
The 45-foot-long mobile titled ".125" currently hangs in the departure hall of Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
A mobile named "Brass in the Sky," once hung in Marshall Field & Company's Cloud Room restaurant at Chicago's Midway Airport.
A 40-foot-wide Calder piece named 'Red, Black and Blue" made its way from Dallas Love Field to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport before being displayed at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
