Handmade And
Mind Made
Our Permanent Collection
Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Ellen Driscoll’s Wingspun, © 2008;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Ed Carpenter’s Triplet, © 2010;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
About The Collection
Raleigh-Durham International Airport is the gateway to Central and Eastern North Carolina. More than 9 million passengers travel
through our airport each year on commercial flights, with millions more arriving daily to greet or dropoff passengers, fly on private
aircraft or rent facilities for events.
The Airport Authority created its Art Master Plan in 2000 to serve as an organizational tool for public art at RDU. The themes
handmade and mind made were selected to refer to the region’s rich history of craftsmanship in furniture and textiles and
the high-tech scientific reputation enjoyed today.
An art advisory council comprised of Airport Authority staff, regional arts council representatives and others jury-selected
the 15 pieces in RDU’s permanent collection to represent the collection’s theme and enhance the passenger experience.
The collection’s first installation, The Terminal 1 Art Murals, was installed in 2002. The newest pieces will be installed in early
2014 as part of the Terminal 1 modernization project.
Wellington Reiter
Skilled in pen and ink drawings, as well as large scale architectural
works, Wellington Reiter is a 1981 graduate of Tulane University
and went on to study at Harvard University and the North London
Polytechnic School.
He is known for public commissions using steel and light. His pieces
are on display at locations as varied as the San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art, Tulane University School of Architecture, offices of
World Cinema Corporation in California and in private collections
around the world.
Triangle Icon
Parking Garage Entrance
Installed December 2003
Steel and LED lighting
Motorists entering the airport’s parking garage are greeted by Triangle Icon. A 50-foot tower anchors the work and points
skyward, symbolizing man’s aspiration to fly. It is surrounded by a pair of intersecting wings that honor Orville and Wilbur Wright
and represents the notion of flight.
Triangle Icon is encircled by a 120-foot elliptical ring, lit by LED lighting, which equals the length of the Wright Brothers’ first flight
at Kitty Hawk along our state’s coast.
The sculpture was commissioned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of powered flight. The only outdoor piece in the
airport’s art program, Triangle Icon is a joint project of the Airport Authority and the counties of Durham and Wake and cities
of Durham and Raleigh.
Triangle Icon
Wellington Reiter’s Triangle Icon, © 2003;
Parking Garage Entrance, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Catherine Widgery
American-born Catherine Widgery has used her years of living
abroad as inspiration for more than 30 public art commissions
in Canada and the United States and countless exhibition sculptures
crafted over the years.
Widgery is a Yale University graduate who also attended the
Tyler School of Art in Rome. Her focus is on sculptures with an
environmental focus that have a level of interaction with the
space they inhabit. She frequently uses wind, light and water
to communicate energy and create movement.
Ripples
Terminal 1, Concourse
To be Installed Early 2014
Glass and steel
Ripples is a series of three photographs interpreted into a glass mosaic wall that separates the security checkpoint from the
concourse. The installation is viewable from both sides and includes a patented process that allows the layers of glass comprising
the images to appear as though they are moving as viewers pass by it.
Widgery designed Ripples as a contemplative, soothing expanse that includes the ripple patterns of water created by raindrops and
the reflection of trees and the sky above. The water drop patterns remind travelers of eternal rhythms and cycles.
Ripples
Catherine Widgery’s Ripples, © 2014;
Terminal 1, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Martin Donlin
A native of the United Kingdom, Martin Donlin is an experienced
glass artist specializing in architectural works. He works with a wide
range of glass, from antique mouth-blown to screen-printed ceramic
enamels to subtle acid-etched and polished glass.
His works can be found throughout town halls, hospitals and other
public buildings in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany. In the
United States, two of his large-scale works are on permanent display
in the Indianapolis International Airport.
Metamorphosis
Terminal 1, Security Checkpoint Entrance
To Be Installed Early 2014
Glass
Metamorphosis will be located on a two-story wall that frames the escalator and staircase between the ticketing and security
checkpoint levels.
This piece features bold imagery and colors combined with intricate details that include nature scenes, a map of the world
and an abstract of a North Carolina road map. The work is meant to provide an immediate impact but also includes
details to be discovered by repeat travelers.
Metamorphosis
Martin Donlin’s Metamorphosis, © 2014;
Terminal 1, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
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Terminal 1 Tile Art
Underground Pedestrian Walkway
Drew and Linda Krouse, Robert Johnson
September 2002
Clay tile
More than 2,500 tiles comprise the airport’s first collection and form six
clay murals representing some of North Carolina’s most scenic destinations.
Images represent the Neuse River, Mt. Mitchell, the Sandhills, Pea Island,
the Eno River and the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Subtle environmental
statements relating to noise, water and air pollution can be detected
throughout the work.
Wright Brothers Commemorative Terrazzo
Terminal 1, Ticketing Lobby
Jack Toler
Installed October 1955, To Be Rededicated March 2014
Terrazzo
in Terminal 1
Since 1955, a six-foot-long terrazzo mosaic depicting the Wright Brother’s first flight has welcomed visitors into the airport’s first
permanent terminal building. With plans for closure of that portion of the facility, the Airport Authority removed the artwork
and repurposed it into a dedication plaque for the modernized Terminal 1.
Additional Works
Drew and Linda Krouse, Robert Johnson’s Terminal 1 Tile Art, © 2002;
Terminal 1, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Mei-Ling Hom
Working from her farm in upstate New York, Mei-Ling Hom is a
public commission artist whose works often express her affinity with
cultures that are under-represented in contemporary art. She enjoys
crafting sculptures and large works of art that are poetic and fit a
space in the best possible way.
Arguably, her most famous piece is Singing Mountains Hanging
Clouds, which was displayed at The Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D.C. Other works are on display in the Japanese
American National Museum in Los Angeles and the Philadelphia
International Airport.
Cloudscape
Terminal 2, Gates D12–D13
Installed October 2010
Steel, hex netting, cabling
Cloudscape suspends high above Concourse D and comprises about 50 intricate cloud formations. They are crafted from steel hex
netting suspended by discreet cabling. The clouds vary in size from two to 20 feet and span the entire width of the concourse.
Some touch the ceiling and others seem to hang in mid-air while a few dip to just 18 feet from the floor.
Cloudscape is visible not only in the gate waiting areas below the sculpture, but also as one approaches the boarding areas on
Concourse D. At night, Cloudscape is visible through the windows of the terminal, viewable by passengers in passing aircraft.
The formation was designed by Hom to provide passengers with a contemplative space where they can daydream in anticipation
of their next destination. The artist also describes the cloud formations as symbolic of voyaging beyond the horizon and ascending
from the ground.
Cloudscape
Mei-Ling Hom’s Cloudscape, © 2010;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Ellen Driscoll
Ellen Driscoll is the head of the Sculpture Department at the Rhode
Island School of Design. She is a multidisciplinary artist whose
sculptures, paintings and other works explore the link between
resource consumption and material usage.
Driscoll has been awarded grants from the Guggenheim
Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts
Council of the Arts and others. Many of her designs have been
incorporated into public and private collections worldwide. Her
public collections can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and Whitney Museum of Art.
Wingspun
Terminal 2, International Arrivals Corridor Above Concourse C
Installed October 2008
Glass
Comprising 165 individual glass panels and extending 780-feet along the international arrivals corridor, Wingspun overlooks
Concourse C in Terminal 2. The piece provides visitors with a poetic set of coordinates to guide them upon their arrival to
North Carolina.
The design complements the rolling hills of the terminal roof and mimics the movement of a bird’s wing, as well as the
interaction between the warp and weft in weaving, which is also a Terminal 2 design feature.
A horizontal band traverses the mid-section of each glass panel and is a repeat pattern of a simple basket weave structure.
Driscoll’s piece combines large gestures easily caught by those walking at a quick pace, as well as more detailed “micro gestures”
that repeat travelers will discover.
Wingspun contains images of various types. Many in the first section portray those who first arrived in North Carolina,
such as early British explorers, followed by African slaves and more recently, East Asian immigrants. About midway, the piece
transitions to segments of DNA and scientific imagery to pay honor to the region’s science and technological achievements.
Wingspun
Ellen Driscoll’s Wingspun, © 2008;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Robert Kushner
Rising to prominence in the early 1970s during the Pattern
and Decoration Movement, Robert Kushner is widely-known for
his use of floral designs and ornamentation in his works. He received
a Bachelor of Arts in 1971 from the University of California at San
Diego.
Kushner draws from an unlikely range of influences, including
Islamic patterns, Japanese screens, French Nabis painters, Matisse,
O’Keefe and Demuth. His works are frequently exhibited in
American, European and Japanese galleries.
His other public commissions include a mosaic in the 77th Avenue
and Lexington Avenue station of the New York City Subway System,
Rockefeller Center, Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, D.C. and
Union Square in Tokyo.
Welcome
Domestic Arrivals Corridor
Installed December 2010
Stone and tile
Passengers returning home or ending their journey at RDU will be greeted by Welcome, a stone and glass mosaic mural created
by Robert Kushner. The mural is 7-feet high by 85-feet long and features a meadow of indigenous North Carolina flora and fauna.
The familiar landscape of a meadow reminds travelers that they are at the end of a voyage and mimics the natural grasses found
in North Carolina. Kushner also incorporates the Terminal 2 roofline, which echoes the rolling hills of North Carolina.
Beneath the hills is a close-up view of a meadow, which represents the humble elements of life that are easy to overlook in favor
of more colorful events. However, when scrutinized, they yield a basic and dignified beauty that is specific and geographically
unique. Kushner’s mural features five different meadow grasses that were collected after a study of native North Carolina grasses
in bloom.
Welcome
Robert Kushner’s Welcome, © 2010;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Ed Carpenter
Since 1973, Ed Carpenter has gained a reputation for large scale,
public art installations that involve architectural or infrastructure
design. His works also often incorporate lighting. Carpenter’s
installations are found in scores of public facilities, corporate offices
and houses of worship across the nation.
As a teenager, he spent summers working in the office of his
stepfather’s architectural firm. His grandfather was a painter and
sculptor. Carpenter himself studied architectural glass under artists
in the United Kingdom and Germany during the early 1970s.
Carpenter enjoys crafting art concepts that involve the use of
artificial light, glass, tension wires and other materials that help the
genre of architectural art evolve.
Triplet
Terminal 2, Ticketing Lobby
Installed December 2010
Tapered hollow laminated wood masts, welded aluminum fittings, laminated glass tip elements, dichroic glass in anodized
aluminum extrusions, stainless steel cables and hardware, LED lighting.
Suspended over the central opening in Terminal 2’s ticketing lobby, Triplet features refined, hand-finished materials as reminders
of North Carolina’s legacy of craftsmanship. Wood masts, tipped with dichroic glass and LED lighting, are suspended from stainless
steel cables.
The sculpture creates triangular forms that suggest the Research Triangle Region. The bag claim floor beneath Triplet is designed
to complement the work above.
The hanging sculpture is designed for viewing along the long sight-lines of the open space. It embodies the terminal’s guiding
theme of handmade and mind made. Triplet reveals increased complexity as one approaches it and provides a unique experience
each time a viewer enjoys the piece from a different angle.
Triplet
Ed Carpenter’s Triplet, © 2010;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Lydia Rubio
Lydia Rubio is a distinguished multidisciplinary artist whose
paintings and sculptures can be found in public art commissions
and private collections in New York, Miami and Europe. She is
known for incorporating the written word into her works. Originally
from Cuba, Rubio has traveled extensively in Europe and Latin
America and lived in Puerto Rico, Florence, Boston, New York, Miami
and Bogota.
Rubio earned a Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s
School of Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University
of Florida. She has previously taught at the Harvard University School
of Design and the University of Puerto Rico.
In addition to her commissioned works at RDU, Rubio completed
The Women’s Park Art Gates and Fences for Dade County and All Night
Long, We Heard Birds Passing at the Port of Miami.
Gate of Air
Terminal 2, Bag Claim and Ticketing
Installed January 2011
Stainless steel, terrazzo
The sculpted spiral that comprises Gate of Air is in the shape of a seashell and begins on the bag claim level and then rises nearly 50
feet through a light well into the ticketing lobby.
The piece represents the elements of air and water, which are symbolized by a spiral that builds upward from a seashell. This
sculpture evokes an upward growth, a transformation from solid to light. The base of the sculpture is surrounded by blue terrazzo
to evoke the feel of water.
Gate of Earth
Terminal 2, Bag Claim and Ticketing
Installed January 2008
Aluminum, stainless steel, terrazzo
Entering the terminal’s bag claim level from outdoors, Gate of Earth is an aluminum and steel tree that also stretches up a light well
into the ticketing lobby. On the ticketing level, a small cardinal is suspended from the ceiling near the top of the tree. The cardinal is
the North Carolina state bird.
The artwork considers feelings associated with leaving or returning home or traveling into the world. Traditional North Carolina
symbols — trees and birds — are combined with the words of North Carolina writer Thomas Wolfe, which are etched into the
terrazzo floor design and in specially-colored concrete on the outside of the building.
Gate of Air
Gate of Earth
Lydia Rubio’s Gate of Air, Gate of Earth, © 2008;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Jane Filer
A San Jose, California native, Jane Filer has developed deep roots in the
Research Triangle Region. As a child, her family moved to Western Australia,
where she was exposed to the artwork of the aboriginal people. After high
school, she moved to Chicago to begin a formal education in the arts.
Filer received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University with
honors and also received the Rickert-Ziebold Trust Award, the highest
award in the U.S. awarded to college graduates. She then went on to earn
a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For nearly 30 years, Filer has taught at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, N.C.,
where she lives in the area with her husband John in a home they built by
hand. She credits the home for maintaining her creative fire. The couple
split their time between Orange County and the North Carolina coast.
Filer’s works have been included in many prestigious collections around
the world, including the American embassies in Estonia and Uganda, as
well as at IBM, Duke Hospital, Momentum Research, UNC-Chapel Hill and
Southern Illinois University.
Friendly Folks
Terminal 2, Bag Claim 1
Installed February 2011
Acrylic on panel
Commissioned by the Triangle Area Sister Cities Commission (TASC), Friendly Folks celebrates the Research Triangle Region’s
13 international sister cities. The 45-foot oil-on-acrylic mural hangs in Bag Claim 1 and is viewed by thousands each week who
enter through the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol processing area.
Filer weaves together images of local landmarks with smiling, happy figures from various countries, along with cultural
representations from various countries. Together, these images represent our state and various international sister cities.
Doves can be found throughout the mural to convey the idea of peace and TASC’s slogan, “World Peace: One Friend,
One Community at a Time.”
Bag Claim 1 is open to the public when not being used to process arriving international flights.
Friendly Folks
Jane Filer’s Friendly Folks, © 2011;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Dunne Dittman
A resident of Raleigh, North Carolina, Dunne Dittman worked
for years as a Southwest Airlines ramp employee who created
sculptures as a hobby. In 2007, he approached the Airport Authority
with the idea for a sculpture made from vintage suitcases. The
Airport Authority accepted his proposal for Earlier Flight and later
commissioned him to create a community-based piece for the
grand opening of Terminal 2.
Earlier Flight
Parking Garage Atrium
Installed April 2008
Leather, steel, cabling, paper, wood
Soaring above the parking garage atrium is Earlier Flight, which pays homage to the early days of air travel. The flock spans 56 feet
long and 35 feet wide. It was proportioned to the dimensions of the parking garage atrium. Each bird is fitted with a wooden frame
for stability and is carefully hung with stainless steel cables to gently sway with the motion of air and vibration from the garage.
Dittman views the piece as a vision of a bygone era of suitcases adorned with destination stickers that represent a simpler time
for air travel.
Terminal 2 Signature Art
Terminal 2, Ticketing Lobby
Installed October 2009
Wood, glass, LED lighting
Reminiscent of fine gems in a storefront window, Terminal 2 Signature Art illustrates the appreciation the Airport Authority has for
the millions of travelers who choose to fly to and from the airport each year.
More than 5,000 signatures from Research Triangle Region residents were digitally etched by Dittman’s team onto a six-foot by
four-foot sea foam glass. Names were captured in October 2008 during the Airport Authority’s community open house to showcase
Terminal 2. At that time, visitors were asked to leave their signature on a piece of art that would one day be displayed in the terminal.
The glass is illuminated by LED lights and is encased in a contemporary stand made of reclaimed ambrosia maple and walnut.
Additional Works
Dunne Dittman’s Earlier Flight, © 2008; Terminal 2 Signature Art, © 2009;
Terminal 2, Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
Heath Satow
A contemporary art metal sculptor, Heath Satow has created many
public art installations since 1989. His works are on display in
locations as varied as California, Hong Kong and Dubai. He is known
for utilizing the natural qualities of metals and other materials to
create inviting interpretive sculptures.
Dream of Flight
General Aviation Terminal
Installed February 2004
Stainless Steel, Stained Glass, Cabling
Located in the atrium of the General Aviation Terminal, Dream of
Flight consists of 1,000 pieces of cut stained glass suspended from
the ceiling with three eight-foot tall sculptures on the terminal floor
looking upward. The piece invokes the dream of flying — before
man actually left the ground.
Enjoying The Collection
The Airport Authority invites visitors to Raleigh-Durham International Airport to enjoy the permanent collection in person. As an
active and busy airport, please keep in mind that several installations are located beyond the security checkpoint and are only
viewable with a valid boarding pass.
Installations with limited access include:
•Cloudscape
•Ripples
• Triangle Icon (no pedestrian access)
•Welcome (View from inside The Meeting Place in Terminal 2)
•Wingspun
Parking and Transportation
To view art installations inside Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and the parking garage, park in either Terminal 1 or Terminal 2 Hourly
for a small fee. It is an easy walk between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 via the parking garage.
Free shuttle bus service is also available between the terminals. From Terminal 1 to Terminal 2, take the Purple Park and Ride 3 bus.
From Terminal 2 to Terminal 1, take the Orange Park and Ride 4 bus.
To view Dream of Flight, visit the General Aviation Terminal. Parking in the General Aviation Terminal parking lots is free
for the first four hours.
Dream of Flight
Heath Satow’s Dream of Flight, © 2004;
General Aviation Terminal, Raleigh-Durham International Airport
Airport Authority
John T. “Tommy” Hunt, Chairman, Durham County
Geoff Elting, Vice Chairman, City of Raleigh
Farad Ali, Secretary, City of Durham
Richard “Dickie” Thompson, Treasurer, City of Raleigh
John Kane, Wake County
Robert D. Teer, Jr., City of Durham
Clay Wheeler, Durham County
Terry Yeargan, Wake County
Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority • 1000 Trade Drive • PO Box 80001 • RDU Airport, NC 27623
rdu.com • (919) 840-7700