Taking the family to Disneyworld this summer? Be sure to spend some time exploring the art at Orlando International Airport (MCO).

The permanent art collection includes this oh-so-appropriate piece by Duane Hanson titled The Traveler. (It’s in the Main Terminal, Airside 2 security checkpoint).

Through September 30, there’s also an intriguing collection of World War I metal trench art on display in the ARTport Gallery next to the security checkpoint for gates 60-129.

Trench art?

It seems during WWI and II, soldiers with downtime between battles, prisoners of war, and wounded men convalescing in military hospitals used artillery shells, bullets, pieces of airplanes and other bits of brass and scrap metal to make ashtrays, lamps, and all manner of decorative and functional items.

In her Forbes article titled “America’s Most Time Draining Airports,” Rebecca Ruiz reports on the Forbes analysis of 2007 Bureau of Transportation statistics for 100 of the largest airports. (The full table of delay statistics is here.)

No surprise – Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) tops the list as “the nation’s worst airport for delays.” In defense, airport officials tick off a list of things passengers can do while they’re stuck at O’Hare: get a massage, shop at the Field Museum kiosk, or eat at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant.

That might keep you amused for about an hour.  In the Top 20 list of airports with the worst delays there are few that offer far more entertainment: San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and DenverInternational Airport (DEN) have lots of artwork to see and at Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport (MSP) there’s oodles of great shopping.

(World Civilization,” by Viola Frey, is located in Boarding Area A. Courtesy SFO airport)

According to this Newsday story, pieces of the iconic red, white and sapphire-blue stained glass window by Robert Sowers that once greeted travelers in Terminal 8 at New York’s JFK airport are not up for sale.

Sad.

The new Acropolis Museum in Athens isn’t expected to open to the public until the end of 2008, but anyone passing through Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” can now get a sneak preview of the project.

A new exhibition, accessible 24-hours in the public area of the airport, opened earlier this week and includes photos, a video about the construction of the new museum building and the transport of the Caryatids of the Erectheion, a cast copy of a section of the west frieze of the Parthenon (C. 440 BC.), and several other intriguing items.

The temporary exhibition is adjacent to a permanent installation that features treasures discovered when the airport was being built.

A new exhibit at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport chronicles nearly 50 years of free summer music productions in Austin, Texas and includes photos, costumes, reviews and other items from Zilker Theater Productions.

Highlights include props such as bricks made of fabric, pie made of foam, and hats with mouse traps to secretly propel a bird into the sky.   There are also elaborate costumes designed by Susan Branch, including the “Dreamer Dress” (below) from the Secret Garden.

The Zilker Summer Musical exhibit is on display through August 12, 2008 in the Airside West Gallery located behind the BookPeople bookstore across from Gate 11.

Country music icon Marty Stuart is not only a songwriter and musician; it turns out the Mississippi native is also an accomplished photographer. He got his first camera at age 13 while making his bluegrass debut as a rhythm guitarist in Lester Flatt’s band.

Beginning June 2nd, you can see 40 of Stuart’s photographs in the Concourse C corridor at Nashville International Airport (BNA). The photographs tell the story of three major influences on Stuart’s life: country music singers and songwriters, rockabilly music and performers, and the Lakota Tribe of North and South Dakota.

Photo of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard by Marty Stuart

Some intriguing and colorful work by Mark Richmond is on view through July in the Commuter Terminal at San Diego International Airport.

In addition, Richmond’s first public art commission, “Winds of Change,” a 25’ X 9’ 6” digital painting, was installed in Terminal 1.

Photo courtesy: San Diego International Airport

The art world is mourning the passing of Robert Rauschenberg, who died yesterday at age 82. He’s described in the New York Times as a “painter, photographer, printmaker, choreographer, onstage performer, set designer and, in later years, even a composer” who “defied the traditional idea that an artist stick to one medium or style”

Travelers flying through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport can pay their respects and see an example of Rauschenberg’s work at the “elbow” of Concourse C, just as you pass the Horizon gates and before you get to Gate C8.

The airport’s art collection includes Star Quarters, an intricate serigraph on mirror-coated Plexiglas.

Photo courtesy: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

There’s a new piece of public art at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Inspired by the patterns of jet mist across a blue sky, Guy Kemper’s 50-foot long, 12-foot high, “Jet Trails” is made of hand-blown painted glass in soothing shades of blue, green and violet.

Kemper designed the mural to be “suggestive of many things related to flying-such as a kite, or the tail of an aircraft.”

(Photo courtesy: James Steinkamp, Steinkamp Photography)

See what you think: the mural is just past the south security checkpoint in Terminal 1.

Next time you’re at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, take a moment to check out the new exhibit of black and photographs by Rick Williams.

Titled Working Hands, the images portray the rugged lives of the cowboy, the rough work of the west Texas oil field hand and the intricacies of the workplace for the high-tech worker in Austin.

The collection is on loan from Humanities Texas and is on display through July 28, 2008 in the Airside East Gallery, post-security, behind the Austin Article newsstand across from Gate 8.