The Airport Arts Program, overseen by the five member Airport Arts Commission, presents museum-quality exhibitions in the Riley Terminal, provides periodic special programs in conjunction with the exhibitions and sponsors a countywide Annual Student Art Contest/Exhibition. (View information on the John Wayne Airport Arts Commission.)
ANNUAL JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT STUDENT ART CONTEST
The annual John Wayne Airport Student Art Contest is part of the International Aviation Art Contest. JWA winning entries go on to compete at State, National and International levels of competition. Artwork that best depicts the contest’s theme is selected for exhibition and prizes. The contest is open to all Orange County public and private school students, including home-schooled students, in grades kindergarten through 12. The contest runs in the fall of each year.
This year's student art exhibition will be on display from November 23, 2019 to January 16, 2019 at the Thomas F. Riley Terminal in the John Wayne Airport Arrival (lower) Level behind Baggage
Carousels 1 and 4.
Please click here for more information about the Annual Student Art Contest.
FLIGHT OF IDEAS
A large scale three-dimensional sculpture that is installed above the baggage carousels in Terminal C. The sculpture is composed of 21 aluminum birds with wing spans ranging in size from three feet to 15 feet suspended on an "S" shaped structure 100 feet long. Created from aluminum and polycarbonate Plexiglas, the wings of the birds display enlarged portions of multi-colored aeronautical charts. John Wayne Airport commissioned the artist Beth Nybeck of Kansas City, Missouri to create this art work for the new Terminal C.
Location: Above the baggage carousels in Terminal C
View news article about new exhibits... | View artist's exhibit installation blog...
THE VI SMITH CONCOURSE GALLERY
NINETY-NINES® MUSEUM OF WOMEN PILOTS
A new exhibition featuring aviation memorabilia and historical artifacts from the early 1900s procured by the Ninety-Nines® Museum of Women Pilots is on display at John Wayne Airport. Ticketed passengers can view the exhibit now through March 2021. View press release
Location: Departure (upper) Level, in the free standing cases near Gate 14 in Terminal C.
Exhibition Dates: June 2020 through March 2021
ORANGE COUNTY: DESTINATION ART & CULTURE
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
John Wayne Airport is pleased to share the story of Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, an award-winning center for arts and culture, now featured in the JWA Orange County: Destination Art & Culture exhibit through June 2020.
View press release
Location: These works can be viewed pre-security along the pedestrian walkway connecting Riley Terminals B and C.
Schedule: December 2019 through June 2020
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens
COMMUNITY FOCUS SPACE
The Community Focus Space features exhibitions by Orange County artists and local community organizations.
Melissa Murphy, Paintings
Murphy's artwork is on display at John Wayne Airport (JWA) as part of JWA’s Community Focus Space Program.
View press release
Location: These works can be viewed on the Departure (upper) Level near security screening areas in Terminals A, B and C, and on the Arrival (lower) Level adjacent to Baggage Carousels 1 and 4.
Schedule: July 16, 2020 – August 18, 2020
HANG GLIDERS
There are four hang gliders soaring above Baggage Claim Carousels 1 – 4 in Terminals A & B. Installed in 2009 by hang gliding pilot Owen Morse, the exhibit includes four unique hang gliders. A T3, T2 and Sport 3 were part of the original exhibit, and a Wills Wing T3, designed in 2019, was added in October of the same year.
VOLAR
John Wayne Airport is honored to be the recipient of a sculpture generously donated to the Airport’s permanent art collection. The sculpture, created by renowned artist Betty Gold, is titled VOLAR, which means “to fly”, and is located on Baggage Carousel 1, in Terminal A.
VOLAR, created from welded steel panels, measures 26½" high by 37" long and 20" wide and is painted a vibrant green. Gold, one of the earliest female artists working in welded steel, is an established, internationally known professional artist who has shown in more than one hundred thirty solo and group exhibitions. She donated VOLAR because she always felt the sculpture would be at home at the Airport.
