Velma Ruth Boyd (1921-2006) of Longview, Texas had a deep passion for hats and, no doubt, a big closet.

Throughout her life she collected more than 300 dress hats, most of which ended up at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Austin, Texas.

Through July 1, 2008, a dazzling selection of Ms. Boyd’s hats is on display in the showcases between Gates 7-12 (post-security) at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Look for the “vermillion red hat with plumes of feathers,…a tan straw hat trimmed in white organza with a wide brim folded and curled back on itself like a mobius strip, and a pink summer straw hat surrounded with pink netting, ribbons and adorned with small faux flowerets.”

Photo courtesy Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Next time you pass through Nashville International Airport (BNA), check out the snazzy leopard-print woodwork on the piano in Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge.

Made by Baldwin Piano, a division of Nashville-based Gibson Guitar, “The Leopard” also has hard rock maple cabinetry, virgin wool hammers and ebony wood sharps.

And it’s not just for show: the piano is an in-house instrument for an airport arts program that features daily musical performances.

Photo: courtesy Nashiville International Airport

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Memphis International Airport is hosting an exhibit of photographs by renowned photojournalist Ernest C. Withers, who also photographed other notable individuals, including President John F. Kennedy, Mahalia Jackson, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, President Richard Nixon, Elvis Presley, Isaac Hayes, and James Brown.

Through the end of April, travelers can view candid photographs by Withers documenting Dr. King’s last days in Memphis and the events following his assassination on April 4, 1968.

The photographs are displayed in Concourse B, just beyond the security checkpoint through the end of April.

For years, a graceful aluminum and iron mobile by Alexander Calder has been suspended over the air-side central atrium at Pittsburgh International Airport.

The work, titled Pittsburgh, was originally designed for a Carnegie Institute exhibition in 1958 and was moved to the airport in 1959. Except for a stint at the Carnegie Museum of Art during the construction of the current terminal, the mobile has been greeting travelers at PIT ever since.

Soon, though, the Calder will be taking a trip: the airport has agreed to loan the mobile to the Palazzo delle Esposizioni museum in Rome for a Calder exhibit they’re hosting in the winter of 2009.

So catch the Calder before it flies away. The Calder exhibit in Rome is scheduled to run from February through May 2009.

Photo Courtesy Pittsburgh International Airport

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is, so far, the only U.S. airport with an accredited museum. There are twenty galleries scattered throughout the terminals displaying always cool, ever-changing exhibitions of art, history, science.

So you may find yourself wishing for a longer layover or a flight delay here.

I usually do.

Right now, for example, pre-security in the International Terminal, there’s a new exhibit of more than fifty pieces of the nineteenth-century English and French glazed ceramic known as “majolica.”

This wine cistern celebrating Bacchus is my favorite:

Bacchus vase 1851–1897/ Courtesy of Nicolaus Boston

Not in the mood for majolica? Elsewhere in the airport, there are exhibit cases filled with flight attendant uniform caps, aviation toys, minerals and gemstones, and other fun stuff.

And there’s no admission charge.

To help you plan your SFO layover, here’s a link to the San Francisco Airport Art Museum’s list of what’s where – and when.

If you find yourself flying into or out of New York’s Albany International Airport anytime soon, leave time to explore the airport’s top notch art and history exhibits and do some shopping at Departure, the airport shop filled with items from more than 60 regional museums and cultural institutions.

While you’re there, consider a side-trip to Stockbridge, Ma., about an hour away. Verizon just donated the painting titled “The Lineman” (appraised value $2 million) to the town’s popular Norman Rockwell Museum.

According the museum, “The Lineman” was used as an ad for AT&T in Life magazine and more than 100,000 poster-sized color reprints were sent out to the public and to telephone company employees.

(Press release photo: ©1948 Norman Rockwell Licensing Company)

And just for fun, check out this unusual lineman. He’s on-duty 24/7 outside city hall in Milton-Freewater, Oregon. Appraised value? Priceless….

Photo courtesy city of Milton-Freewater

Nashville International Airport (BNA) has an ambitious live music schedule and, it seems, a fine art program.

Through June 1, 2008, the airport’s exhibition series (Flying Solo) features the work of four Tennessee artists, including T. Michael Martin who describes his work this way:

“I create quirky, vibrant worlds where geometries are manipulated to represent sci-fi fascinations combined with concerns of advancing technologies. My paintings and installations start from found blueprints, maps, diagrams, and schematics. Then I isolate seemingly mundane events from my daily life and incorporate them to invent unusual structures that question utopian or dystopian societal views.”

I bet this image on display in the south end of the ticket lobby was inspired by something Martin saw on the x-ray machine at an airport security checkpoint.

T. Michael Martin: Codes of Connection, 20′ x 9,’ mixed media digital collage on Tyvek.

Built in 1961 and undergoing major renovation, the Theme Building at LAX still looks sort of futuristic. Even while encased in scaffolding put up after a 1,000-pound piece of stucco coating fell off the building in Feb. 2007.

While the $10 million restoration project continues outside, travelers can once again dine inside at the space-aged themed Encounter Restaurant at the top of the building. Closed for almost a year, the restaurant re-opened last November.

I stopped by for lunch last week and was delighted to discover that the refreshed restaurant still has cool theme music in the elevator and retro-Jetsons decor. They even have souvenir postcards.

The cool photo on the Encounter Restaurant postcard is by Tom Paiva www.tompaiva.com

Guitar aficionados passing through San Diego International Airport will want to be sure to see the classic Taylor Guitars on display in the Commuter Terminal through April 2008.

If you happen to be in or near the airport this Friday, Feb. 29 from 5:30 – 7pm, though, head over to the west end of the commuter terminal for a reception with Taylor Guitars founder Bob Taylor. He’ll be showing off the company’s first-ever solid-body electric guitar. Taylor staff will be on hand to perform demos. Rock on!

I’m a big fan of art at the airport. Anything that helps perk a place up.So I was pleased to see that there a two new pieces of public art at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.Steven Heyman’s sculptures, the square “Blue Beacon” and the circular “Orange Beacon” have been installed at International Terminal 5 and will welcome arriving passengers.The artwork should be hard to miss: each is 16 feet across and consists of painted silk panels that are lit from within.