The commissioned public art project at Love Field, which contributing Observer arts writer Betsy Lewis has pointed out isn't really public at all, has been the inspiration for much backslapping and many sweaty, congratulatory handshakes. Good for it. Some artists got paid and their names were circulated.
Baby steps, people. Baby steps.
See also: Love Field's New "Public Art" Might Be Cool, If You Could Get Close Enough to See It.
Come September of 2013, two new works will be tucked in the Love Field mix, adding to the city's public art collection. One is a piece called Intersected Passage, by Tom Orr, who's currently showing in Boom Town, the Art Foundation-curated group show at the Dallas Museum of Art, and who's also part of the Barry Whistler talent stable. Near the tarmac he'll celebrate the legacy of Texas travel by referencing a 1958 entrance sign that once welcomed passengers to their pending journeys. (That sign has recently been reinstalled at the corner of Mockingbird and Denton Drive.)
His project will use powder-coated aluminum tubing with panels of colored and mirrored aluminum. That's all they've announced so far, but knowing Orr's work I expect the orderly calm of fine-tuned geometry and clean, well-managed lines.
The second piece, Luminaria, is a joint effort between Diana Goldberg and Julie Cohn. The pair will draw from underlying technologies associated with air travel in a piece meant to "greet upon arrival." Goldberg is best known for co-collaborations with husband Brad, and Cohn is most commonly linked to her jewelry-making. Both are Dallas artists.
Keep 'em crossed that these new acquisitions will be prominently displayed, rather than serving as meditative distractions for those awaiting a cavity search.