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.
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

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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. 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
COUNCIL ON AGING, ‘AGING AS ART’
A new exhibition featuring photographic artwork depicting the diversity, dignity, and realities of the aging experience is on display at John Wayne Airport. View press release
Location: Departure (upper) Level, across from Gates 2 through 5 in Terminal A and Gates 18 through 21 in Terminal C.
Exhibition Dates: September 2020 through March 2021
Portrait of Mindy Dawn Friedman
Alone Together in the Pandemic
ORANGE COUNTY: DESTINATION ART & CULTURE
OC Parks
John Wayne Airport is pleased to announce the debut of a new OC Parks display showcasing 60,000 acres of parkland and historical space now featured in the Orange County: Destination Art & Culture exhibit through December 2021.
View press release
Location: These works can be viewed pre-security along the pedestrian walkway connecting Riley Terminals B and C.
Schedule: February 2021 through December 2021
Heritage Hill - Interior View St Georges Episcopal Mission 1891
Irvine Ranch Historic Park
Old Orange County Courthouse
COMMUNITY FOCUS SPACE
The Community Focus Space features exhibitions by Orange County artists and local community organizations.
Andrea Tarman, Artist
Tarman'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: February 16 – March 16, 2021
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.