From now through the end of August, paintings by Cuban-born artist Viredo (just “Viredo”) are on display at John Wayne Airport (SNA) in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal.

Viredo’s paintings are inspired by the complex Afro-Cuban culture of his childhood in Regla, Cuba. Here’s a sample:

(Carmen 1998 - Courtesy Viredo and John Wayne Airport)

In the 1950′s, Viredo was one of the influential Cuban artists that became known as “The Group of Eleven” (Grupo de Los Once). He left Cuba for the United States in 1969 and is now an Orange County-based artist.

A colorful selection of Viredo’s paintings are on display on the departure (upper) level near the security screening areas and on the arrival (lower) level near baggage carousels 1 and 4.

If you’re passing through Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) anytime before October 1, take a few moments to check out the new exhibit installed in the pylon display cases between gates 7 and 12. They’re filled with treasures relating to writers, photographers and musicians, all on loan from The Wittliff Collections, which focuses on the cultural legacy of the Southwest’s literary and photographic arts.

Some cool items here, including:

Lonesome Dove set designs and memorabilia;

Manuscript pages from Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel, No Country for Old Men and from his 2006 novel, The Road, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

A rare 1555 edition of Cabeza de Vaca’s La relación y comentarios, the first written account of travels in the region that is now Texas and northern Mexico.

A vintage camera used by Great Depression documentarian Russell Lee;

And pages from a songbook made by Willie Nelson when he was eleven years old.

(Photo: Pages from Willie Nelson’s first handwritten song book circa 1944, he was eleven years old. Also one of his first vinyl LPs with the hit, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. )

(Photos courtesy Wittliffs Collection and ABIA)

Hooray!

The summer 2008 edition of the MOOM – the Museum of Online Museums - has been posted.

Pretty much everything on the list, from the Virtual Typewriter Museum to the Museum of Corporate Neckties (yes, there are airline ties in there) is pretty special.

But since this is a blog about (mostly…) airports and air travel, let me point out two online museums of special interest: The Stewardess Uniform Collection (746 different uniforms from 330 airlines) and the Online Paper Airplane Museum (800 free designs, plus some books and contests)

(Doll wearing Air France uniform. From the Air France e-shopping site)

Have fun!

From now through mid-December, jetsetters passing through Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport Terminal 5 will be able to check out an exhibit of more than 40 posters from the 2008 Chicago International Poster Biennial Association (CIPBA).

Here’s a sample….

(Poster images courtesy O'Hare International Airport)

Terminal 5 has some other artwork worth checking out: The “Beacons” – two lit geometric sculptures – and a limestone and marble mosaic from Chicago’s sister city Amman, Jordan entitled “Treasury of Petra.”

A 50-foot long blown-glass painted mural entitled “Jet Trails” and a 40-foot long mural – “Songs of Chicago” – created by students in After School Matters, were also installed this year in Terminal 1.

Marian Anderson, Mario Lanza, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie are just some of the 107 legendary musicians, singers, and entertainers from Philadelphia honored with bronze plaques downtown, on the city’s Avenue of the Arts, on Broad Street between Walnut and Pine.

But not everyone can make it downtown. So now, for folks who are stuck at the airport, there are portraits of 44 Philadelphia-rooted legends on display at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).

(From the Art & Exhibitions section of the PHL Web site)

Had a nice talk with Jesse Leavenworth, a reporter from the The Hartford Courant, a while back about my favorite topic – airports with great amenities – and see that his article has hit the paper.

I chatted with Leavenworth about some of my favorite airports to spend time in – including San Francisco International Airport - SFO (great art and food choices in the Int’l Terminal), Oregon’s Portland International Airport- PDX (great shops and no sales tax), and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (a casino, lots of art, on-site museum, and loads more).

Leavenworth was especially pleased to hear me praise Schiphol, because his paper’s hometown airport, Hartford’s Bradley International Airport (BDL) has a direct flight to Amsterdam. Oops.. not any more.. Northwest Airlines just announced that it is dropping that route as of October 2.

Bradley still has loads to offer, including a free parking coupon for folks who sign up for the airport’s frequent-parker program and free Wi-Fi for all.

Last time I went through BDL, they were still displaying something truly unusual: three patch-sized embroidered scenes created by Raymond Materson to honor the 1994 Special Olympics. Materson was in prison when he made the patches and unraveled his socks to get the colored thread to use in his artwork. Once out of prison, Materson kept sewing. His work is now highly prized and displayed in museums and in art galleries.

Materson is currently in his first major overseas exhibit at the Compton Verney Gallery in Warwkickshire, England. To celebrate, he made this portrait of Queen Victoria and was kind enough to let me share it with you.

Courtesy and copyright: Ray Materson

OK, maybe you can’t get to the beach just yet, but Miami International Airport is bringing a bit of the beach to you.

An exhibition of 25 large-scale luminous photographs of sea-shells by Iran Issa-Khan is on display along the moving skywalk on the 3rd level between concourses D-F.

Coming this fall: an exhibition of ceremonial hammocks from South America.

Photo courtesy: Miami International Airport. Copyright:Iran Issa-Khan

The folks at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) have been busy beautifying their Web site with spiffy new tools for travelers.

Highly useful: The interactive maps (check out the panoramic tour of -an empty -Terminal D) and the updated at-a-glance list of services (note that there’s free power and free wired Internet at Gates A20 and B35).

Most enjoyable: The lovely close-ups views of the medallions and other artwork in the airport’s multi-million dollar public art program.

(Christopher Janney’s “Circling” courtesy DFW Airport)

Seattle’s Museum of Flight, just up the road from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), is a pretty cool place to spend an afternoon or a long layover. In addition to the first jet Air Force One and a British Airways Concorde, the museum is home to an incredible collection of historic aircraft, spacecraft, and aerospace artifacts.

Starting this Friday, June 13th, the airport will be hosting a major exhibition of aerospace art. The American Society of Aviation Artists 2008 International Aerospace Art Exhibit features more than 50 paintings and sculptures and runs through September 14^th.

(A great time to visit might be this Sunday, June 15^th – Father’s Day – when dads get in free.)

Here are some images from the show:

Above: “Twilight of the Jagdfliegers,” by Steve Anderson.

Above: “Lightening Lady”, by Stan Vosburg

Above: “Time Capsule Rocketship,” by Erik Lindbergh, (grandson of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh)

More than 4,000 people work in the life science industries in and around San Diego, conducting research and figuring out ways to cure diseases and help save the environment.

We may not be able to understand exactly what they do or how they do it, but an exhibition at San Diego International Airport (SAN) offers a colorful, artsy, and highly magnified peek inside.

Here are a few samples:

(Above photo courtesy of Linda Nye)

(Above photo courtesy of SDSU)

(Above photo courtesy of Vertex)

The artwork will be on display through January 5, 2009 post-security in Terminal 2.

Just so you know: there are intriguing and unusual art and cultural exhibits at San Diego International Airport pretty much all the time. For a descriptive list, click here.