Cleveland Airport Leadership Tours PIT’s New Terminal Art

Pittsburgh International Airport’s new terminal is drawing interest from more than passengers and media – and most recently for its new terminal arts program.

As an industry-leading travel gateway, PIT has hosted leaders from several other airports, most recently from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to tour and discuss PIT’s process in incorporating public art into the new terminal.

Blue Sky News sat down with Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Director Bryant Francis and Rhonda Brown, Senior Advisor, Arts and Culture, Office of Mayor Justin M. Bibb, City of Cleveland, during a recent visit to talk airport art and new terminal construction.

BSN: Why did you decide to visit Pittsburgh International Airport?

Francis:  Cleveland is embarking upon a transformation of its guest experience through a major capital program centering on terminal infrastructure – in many instances replacing existing facilities with new construction. We’re just getting underway with physical work, which will include multiple phases across several years.  Rhonda and I are here to learn from a neighboring airport that has just gone through something similar in its transformation – and to understand more about your art program, from its beginnings to how it grew and took hold as construction advanced, and how it lives today. That will help inform us on how we can move in that same direction with our own program in Cleveland. 

Brown: Pittsburgh has taken public art from first idea to finished terminal, and there is no better teacher than a regional partner who has done the work from beginning to end. What strikes me most is how clearly this airport knows who it is. Pittsburgh’s identity runs through the entire project. Cleveland deserves that same clarity. Our airport should be unmistakably Cleveland, and threading our own history, artists and pride through it is exciting work.

BSN: What’s the biggest takeaway or learning for you from your tour at PIT?

Francis: For me, it’s that you can never start too soon, and that’s a good thing for us because we are in the early stages of our program. We have time to properly plan but based on what we’ve learned today we understand getting started early is best and essential for success. The earlier you focus around your art program, the better opportunity to integrate it into the construction instead of it being what may appear an afterthought.

Brown: Bryant is right, and it’s great to be working with a partner who wants to understand the depth and breadth of the arts ecosystem this early. What we saw here is that the guest experience is about engaging all five senses. Great infrastructure creates the foundation, and arts and culture take that experience further.

An airport is the front door to a city. It’s the first impression and the last, and it should make people want to come back and spend time with us.

BSN: What’s the thumbnail sketch of the project in Cleveland?

Francis: We’re focused on the landside at this moment. We have a vision for what ultimately will replace the entire terminal facility, but the focus is currently landside-based. Parking elements, upgraded roadways, and also the new front door – a new terminal headhouse. Those elements are due to be completed in 2032 – so essentially nonstop construction between now and then. We will turn the focus to airside beginning in 2033.

BSN: What’s the most interesting thing you saw today?

Brown: There are so many aspects of the PIT project we loved. The outdoor terraces, however, are spectacular. Most airports are built to move you along as quickly as possible, but here you can step outside, sit and watch the planes come and go. It makes the airport a place to enjoy, not just endure.

I also love that the artwork is treated as it would be in a museum, with a label for each piece. That simple choice tells every traveler that the work and the artists matter.

Francis: One thing to add, we’ve touched on it in our responses, and that is the overall sense of place we want to create. We want our guests to know they are in Northeast Ohio when they arrive into the future Hopkins International Airport. We have to be very intentional about that, to ensure Cleveland shines brightly, and it has to take shape in the planning years. The reality is we only have one chance to get this right.