Airport museum gives harried travelers reason to stand by
cnn.com
December 15, 2000
Web posted at: 11:56 AM EST (1656
GMT)
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN)
-- Something about most airports
makes you want to race through the
terminal at lightning speed, maybe
even knock a few fellow fliers down
on the way to the gate.
But at San Francisco International
Airport, travelers might just want to
slow down a bit, relax, and yes,
browse. That's because passengers
there can see something they won't find at most other airports -- a museum.
The San Francisco airport opened its first exhibit 20 years ago, becoming the
first in the country with a museum.
"It's a way to enrich the public's experience
while they're at the airport, to enhance the travel
experience and to provide a cultural component,"
said John Hill of San Francisco Airport
Museums.
The program, based on a similar one in Mexico
City, is a collaboration between the airport and
the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Now
more than 40 exhibitions are produced each year
in several of the airport's terminals, and travelers
see all sorts of art on display.
Drumming up interest
The features, said Hill, run the gamut:
"Exhibitions on shoes, exhibitions on hats, a lot
of popular-culture themes."
One
current
show
that's a
big hit with travelers is a collection
belonging to Grateful Dead drummer
Mickey Hart that tells the history of
percussion.
"Many of these have been found as
I've roamed the world in search of the
grail," Hart said, showing off his
collection of drums and other
instruments. "You know, the power of
rhythm and why of rhythm and investigating different cultures."
Hart says 6 million travelers will see the exhibit, each in their own way. Some,
he said, will “move through it casually, and then there's the people whose planes
are late,” Hart said. “And they come back and they spend an hour or two and
really soak it up."
CNN Travel Now Correspondent Stephanie Oswald contributed to this report. |
