Colorful Art of ‘White Noise’ Joins Artwork on Display

(Photos and video by Beth Hollerich)

The latest addition to Pittsburgh International Airport’s art collection required some extra effort to install.

When Mia Tarducci’s “White Noise” arrived last week as part of the Art in the Airport program, it took a team of airport employees to tote the 24-foot-long oil painting into the building and hang it in a case on the Ticketing Level.

Getting it out of Tarducci’s Homestead studio was even more difficult than getting it into the airport, said Rachel Rearick, arts and culture manager for the airport. The artist had to have a slot-shaped hole cut into the second story of her studio to remove the painting in one piece.

The airport’s Art Advisory Committee got a quick answer after contacting Tarducci, Rearick said.

“When we first started talking about showing her work, she went straight to asking if we had any space for this 24-foot painting,” Rearick said.

Tarducci, who lives in Pittsburgh, has had her work shown across the country, but this is her first piece to be displayed at the airport. It’s actually a copy of sorts – she created it as a near-duplicate of a commissioned abstract painting currently hanging in a private home.

 

 

Two other art installations also are making their airport debuts.

In Concourse C, travelers will be captivated by Imin Yeh’s “Phone Chargers.” The Carnegie Mellon University faculty member works in paper, creating lifelike replicas of everyday objects. Sharp-eyed observers will even find a stinkbug on her sculpture … also made out of paper.

“She makes these very delicate but realistic paper sculptures,” Rearick said, adding that Yeh approached the airport about displaying her work there.

And visitors entering the airport on the security checkpoint level will see several cases filled with a variety of works from artists working out of Touchstone Center for Crafts in Fayette County, one of only about a dozen craft schools in the U.S. that offers residencies for artists as well as workshops for those interested in learning more about specific techniques.

From practical creations like bowls and brushes to unique displays of creative art, the works on the security checkpoint level range from ceramics to steel to glass to fiber – “traditional craft materials,” Rearick said.

“We’re specifically looking at institutions and organizations to highlight art and cultural assets of the region,” she said.

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