May 31, 2023.   Departure Wing.

Airport art, and there’s a lot of it these days, can be hit or miss. We applaud any attempts to make the passenger’s experience a little less tedious and austere, but most of it, lets be frank, is just filling space.

One soaring exception is “Little Wing,” a piece by California artist Krysten Cunningham. It’s part of the LAX Art Program, and can be seen in Los Angeles in terminal 3, just before the security checkpoint. The feather-pattern wing shapes are formed by a geometric lacing of white rope set against a sky-blue background.

It’s bold and clever and handsome, evocative of flight while avoiding cliche. I’ve seen a lot of airport art in my travels, and this is my favorite piece thus far. It’s scheduled to be in place until 2024. They should leave it up for good.

Photo by the author.