Public Art Program  >  Midway International Airport

5700 S. Cicero Ave.
Chicago, IL 60629

Completed in 2003, the Midway International Airport redevelopment project provided Chicago with a state-of-the-art airport terminal, as well as significant additions to its world-class art collection. Midway International Airport houses artworks by eight internationally renowned artists from Chicago and across the United States.

Chicago Couples

Dawoud Bey

2000, Dye dispersion prints mounted on Plexiglas, Two murals, H 5 ft. x W 16 ft. (each)
City of Chicago Public Art Collection  

Dawoud Bey’s large-scale murals reflect the diversity of Chicago neighborhoods. The photographs were taken over a two-week period at the Southwest Youth Collaborative and Columbia College Chicago, which the artist chose for their diverse constituencies. Chicago Couples establishes a link between Midway Airport and Chicago’s communities, and represents the city to visitors, whose first Chicago encounters occur at the airport.

Location:  Above Baggage Carousels 7 and 8, Opposite Lower Level Exit 4

Chicago Neighborhoods: Halsted Street Scenes
Chicago Neighborhoods: Bucktown and Hyde Park

Kathleen Eaton

2000, Oil on canvas, Two murals, H 6.75 ft. x W 28 ft. (each)
City of Chicago Public Art Collection 

Kathleen Eaton’s works focus on city and suburban life. They reflect the artist’s fascination with architectural spaces and their impact on human activity. Having evolved from this interest, Eaton’s paintings and prints explore the relation between imagination and reality in an urban environment. The scenes depicted in the Chicago Neighborhoods series of paintings do not exist in reality, but are inspired by the streets of Chicago.  Chicago Neighborhoods: Bucktown and Hyde Park is pictured.

Location:  Opposite each other at the Mezzanine Level, Visible from the Pedestrian Bridge, Access at the Parking Garage Entrance

Rara Avis

Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schecter

2001, Cast metal with stainless steel cable, H 13 ft. x W 15 ft. x D 12 ft.
City of Chicago Public Art Collection

Ralph Helmick and Stuart Schecter’s Rara Avis is an epic suspended sculpture poetically linking natural and manmade aviation. Comprising thousands of precisely suspended pewter elements, the artwork employs three-dimensional Pointillism.

Location:  Suspended sculpture visible from center of Ticketing Hall and Mezzanine Level

More information.

The Body of Lake Michigan

Todd Slaughter

1999 - 2001 Fiberglass and steel, H 4 ft. x W 14 ft. 8 in. x L 28 ft.
City of Chicago Public Art Collection

Todd Slaughter created The Body of Lake Michigan using the physical characteristic data of Lake Michigan, provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). The sculpture shows the lake’s volume as determined by the underlying topography of the earth’s surface. Each of the intersecting lines visible in the sculpture corresponds to one-half degree of latitude or longitude.

Location:  Suspended sculpture located at the Security Checkpoint, near the Food Court

Chicago River 

Bob Thall

1999, Photographic murals, Two murals, H 6.5 ft. x W 28 ft. 7 in. (each)
City of Chicago Public Art Collection 

One of America’s most magnificent urban vistas is the course of the Chicago River through the Loop. These cityscapes are not as well known as the lakefront skyline, yet they distill much of what is beautiful and exceptional about downtown Chicago. The Chicago River provided the economic stimulus for the founding of the city and has been central to its growth—the river port at Chicago was the hub that linked the forests and farmlands of the Midwest with the rest of the world. Bob Thall’s murals capture the energy, drama and lyricism of Chicago while traversing the city’s history, from the founding of Fort Dearborn at the mouth of the river to the modernism of Midway’s airplane terminal.

Location:  Above Baggage Carousels 1 and 2, opposite Lower Level Exit 1

Tuskegee Airmen Commemorative

Karl Wirsum

2000, GlassFresco® architectural glass, H 22 ft. x W 35 ft.
City of Chicago Public Art Collection 

Tuskegee Airmen Commemorative is a tribute to the courage and excellence of the distinguished Tuskegee flying aces of World War II. Presented in organized flying formation, as though passing each other in aerial high fives, Karl Wirsum’s stylized planes and pilots reference the aircraft and insignia of the Tuskegee squadrons. The luminous art glass material, dynamic images and vibrant color palette evoke the thrilling, transcendent experience of being airborne.

Location:  Glass mural located at the south end of the Ticketing Hall