Art at the Airport

SEA’s museum-quality collection

Airports are the first and last places most people see when visiting a city, and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) goes above and beyond to make a good impression.

The city’s vibrant music scene is represented with live concerts on multiple stages every day and a Sub Pop Record Shop filled with CDs, vinyl, and merch. Outposts of popular local restaurants and bars abound. And SEA holds a world record for having the longest structure over an active taxiway: a 780-foot-long pedestrian walkway that is 85 feet above the ground.

And then there is the art. In the late 1960s, SEA was the first airport to set aside money from capital improvement projects to buy art by well-known and emerging international and regional artists. “The early acquisitions were quite brilliant,” says SEA senior art manager and curator Tommy Gregory. “Today we would not have the ability to collect works like Night Flight #1 by Louise Nevelson (Conference Center, mezzanine level), Star Quarters by Robert Rauschenberg (Concourse C, near higher number gates), and York Factory A by Frank Stella (Terminal A, by A6).” The collection is worth millions, and strolling SEA is like visiting an eclectic museum with artwork not just on the walls, but on the floors, in bathrooms and nursing rooms, on columns and windows, and even embedded in drinking fountains.

Do not miss the art in the baggage claim area, which includes Norman Andersen’s Rainmaker’s Baggage, a kinetic kabob of vintage suitcases at Carousel 8 that surprises passengers by spinning when baggage arrives, and Eyes on the World by Richard C. Elliott, near Carousel 15. More than 6 feet high and 20 feet long, Elliott’s colorful light installation is made with more than 4,000 industrial grade, acrylic safety reflectors in a pattern inspired by the corn husk baskets made by Plateau Indians along the Columbia River.

Address 17801 International Boulevard, Seattle, WA 98158, +1 (206) 787-5388, www.portseattle.org/sea-tac, SEAcustomercare@portseattle.org | Getting there Light Rail to SeaTac / Airport (1 Line) | Hours Unrestricted | Tip Enjoy a day at 10-acre Angle Lake Park nearby, with swimming beach, spray park, fishing pier, and picnic shelters (19408 International Boulevard, SeaTac, www.seattlesouthside.com/listing/ angle-lake-park/1329).