Terminal 4 Museum Exhibitions
Terminal 4 Exhibitions
Diversity in the Desert
Expanding the Airport’s Art Collection
Through December 2025
Location
-
Terminal 4, level 3, gallery
Featured Artists
Tania Bolin
Carol Eckert
Mayme Kratz
Carolyn Lavender
Aryana Londir
Monica Aissa Martinez
Kathryn Maxwell
Mary Meyer
Aaron Rothman
Mary Shindell
Kaori Takamura
Jeremy Thomas
Clare Verstegen
Teresa Villegas
Jim Waid
Image caption: Carolyn Lavender, Portrait, 2011, graphite and gouache on canvas
Overview
As Sky Harbor grows, so does its vast art collection. It all began in 1962 with one massive 75’-foot-wide mural at Terminal 2 and the airport’s collection has continued growing ever since. The designs of Terminals 3 and 4 incorporated spaces for art with large-scale paintings and sculptures as well as architecturally integrated works.
The Phoenix Airport Museum began in 1988 to enhance the guest experience by producing exhibitions throughout Sky Harbor and maintaining the ever-increasing art collection. Today, the collection includes more than 1,000 pieces in all mediums, styles and sizes.
On view for the first time are 40 newly acquired artworks in a wide variety of styles and techniques ranging from colorful abstracts to realistic portraiture to Southwest themes. These new additions to the airport's collection were purchased through the city of Phoenix’s percent for art program.
Contemporary Arizona artists created art in various mediums using traditional and unconventional materials including cactus spines, bones, glass and metal. Enjoy these paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints and fiber works showcasing Arizona’s rich art and culture representing Diversity in the Desert.
Trajectory Print Portfolio Project
Through June 2025
Location
- Terminal 4, level 3, near the center
Overview
Phoenix Institute of Contemporary Art (phICA) is a nonprofit organization with a goal of helping artists advance their careers. Through phICA’s financial support, initiatives and opportunities, artists expand their reach and knowledge.
This exhibition presents a diverse array of artworks resulting from phICA’s Trajectory Print Portfolio Project. Arizona artists applied for the opportunity to enhance their artistic skills by experiencing printmaking. For many of these artists, this is new territory as they typically work in mediums like painting, drawing or sculpture.
These 12 local artists, using the technique of relief printing, worked with Master Printer Brent Bond at Santo Press in Scottsdale, AZ. Relief printing is a process where the artist carves their design into a block of wood, linoleum or some other material's surface. The image is transferred from the raised surface onto paper by running the fully inked block and paper through a printing press.
This compelling collection showcases these artists’ existing creative practices enhanced with newfound techniques offered by printmaking. It is a beautiful snapshot of the richness and diversity of skilled artists at work in our local community and is testament to phICA’s dedication to support artists, their vision and artistic Trajectory.
Papay Solomon, J.B., ©2021, hand-cut key image from PVC sheet and multi-block hand-cut linoleum, 17.75 x 14.5”, Phoenix Airport Museum collection
Form Over Function: Ceramics from the Phoenix Airport Museum's Collection
Ongoing
Location
- Terminal 4, level 3 near center
Overview
Ceramic artists sometimes create containers that are more about aesthetics rather than their use. They may design pots, bowls, cups and vases that challenge conventional form, either by deviating from a traditional shape or defying utility altogether. As art objects, their vessels draw upon the expressive nature of sculpture.
This exhibition features ten artists who have taken a unique approach to functional objects. While some artists shape or carve clay to emphasize texture, others create cups with fractures and vases with small openings that would otherwise make an impractical object. These artists contribute to the enduring legacy of the vessel, but they are transcending tradition to favor Form Over Function.
Featured Artists
Anitra Watley Allen
Sharon Brush
Victor Curran
Anne Goldman
Maurice Grossman
Michael Prepsky
Don Reitz
Patricia Sannit
Junya Shao
Greg Wenz
Image caption: Anitra Watley Allen, Guinomi: Sake Cups, 1997, glazed earthenware and porcelain, Phoenix Airport Museum Collection
100 Years, 100 Ranchers
Photographs by Scott Baxter
Ongoing
Location
- Terminal 4, level 1, international walkway (post-security)
Overview
Wide open landscapes dotted with grazing cattle and sheep herded by the rancher on horseback have become an iconic symbol of our western culture. For more than 100 years the ranching tradition has been an integral part of Arizona’s history and growth. In celebration of Arizona’s Centennial in 2012, Scott Baxter photographed 100 Arizona ranchers whose families have been ranching for a century or more.
For more than ten years Baxter has been traveling to ranches across the state, getting to know the individual ranchers and their operations. He chose to use large-format cameras, a traditional process which takes time and allowed him to engage his subjects in a personal manner. Using black and white film Baxter captures a sense of timelessness and directs the viewer’s full attention to the subject in the frame.
The strength and independent nature of this unique group of Arizonans is apparent in their portraits. Baxter’s collection of photographs is a tribute to Arizona’s ranching legacy by preserving an important piece of Arizona character and history.
Image caption: Scott Baxter, Shannon Marie Nicholson Bales, 2011, Corporal Stripe Ranch, Cochise County near Willcox, AZ ranching family since 1885, Phoenix Airport Museum Collection