Sky Gallery is the public art component of the new Springfield-Branson National Airport. As an addition to the airport’s permanent collection of art, Sky Gallery is a series of changing exhibits. Core to the exhibition space is the ArtPort — a free-standing architectural installation designed and built by Drury University architecture students Patrick Butler, Daniel Renner, Justin Bruce, and Austin Abbott and professors Traci Scooter and Stan Rone and coordinated with help of the Springfield Regional Arts Council.
Constructed of materials that echo the Ozarks nature theme of the interior of design of the airport, the ArtPort is a three-sided structure with gallery lighting and hanging system to accommodate changing exhibits. Open doorways on each side allow visitors to pass through the structure freely, being “teleported” temporarily into a room-sized environment to view the artworks on a more intimate level. Built-in seating on one side allows visitors to face either the art work or the baggage claim carousels.
In addition to the ArtPort, Sky Gallery display area includes two seating alcoves for smaller art and the southeast and northeast walls that accommodate large scale two-dimensional artwork. Situated out the security areas of the airport, all areas of public art are accessible to visitors either arriving or departing the terminal and make waiting for baggage almost a bonus!
Current Exhibition
The current exhibition which runs until November 18, 2010 was curated from the Springfield Regional Arts Council online artist registry and features artists Kat Allie, Dolores Bauer, Roxie Castro, Elizabeth Chapman, Cindy Dawson, Gary St. Ivany, Kyle McKenzie, and Denene Taliaferro. For images of some artworks and the artist statements, visit the Springfield-Branson National Airport fine art webpage.
Online Artist Registry
The registry is included as a membership benefit for all artist members of the SRAC. For this and other exhibition opportunities, artists who have not submitted digital images to the new website which went online in June 2010 can find more information on the SRAC Artist Registry webpage.
Three works from the current exhibition have already sold, with a percent of the sales going to the not-for-profit Arts Council and the rest to the artists.
photos of the ArtPort by Russ RuBert