The Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation and the Des Moines Airport Authority have announced the five artists chosen to create art installations throughout the new terminal at Des Moines International Airport.
The Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation initiated a $4 million fundraising effort in late 2023 to support the artist selection and installation process, a news release said.
To date, the effort has reached just over 80% of the fundraising goal, including a $1 million contribution from the Ruan Family Foundation and support from over 60 donors. Fundraising will continue through 2025, the release said.
The large-scale artworks installed at the new terminal will be owned by the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation and be on permanent loan to the Des Moines Airport Authority, which will be responsible for maintaining the art.
The terminal is slated to open in late 2026.
All finalists were selected by a committee of representatives from the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, the Des Moines Airport Authority, and community stakeholders.
Four of the selected artists, Adam Frank, Alteronce Gumby, Gordon Huether and Anne Lindberg, were chosen from an international pool of artists for interior sites throughout the terminal. Matt Niebuhr and RDG Art Studio’s proposal was chosen for a multifaceted exterior site through an open call to artists living and working in Iowa.
Iowa-born Lindberg will create an artwork to be featured on the wall above the check-in counter and both terminal end walls adjacent to the check-in. Frank’s installation will be located on glass panel walls featuring both static images and moving projections.
The terminal’s second floor will feature a suspended installation by Huether, who is based in California. Gumby, a New York artist, will also be featured on the second floor, with his “tonal paintings” created from locally sourced calcite, moss agate, pearls and chalcedony.
The final site encompasses the exterior approach to the terminal and a series of adjacent bus shelters. Niebuhr and RDG’s design will incorporate boldly colored “sentinels” along the approach that allude to the region’s native plants, the release said.
The new terminal is part of a larger $570 million airport improvement project. That figure includes the approximately $445 million cost of the terminal’s first phase. Another element is adding 1,100 spaces to the airport’s parking garage, which is expected to be complete in spring 2025.
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