May 14, 2026
Phoenix Airport Museum Gets Spotlight for Museum Month
PHOENIX – Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport celebrates Museum Month, and the upcoming May 18 International Museum Day, by showcasing the Phoenix Airport Museum’s exhibitions. Museum Month is recognized annually in May to increase awareness of the role of museums in communities and to promote cultural heritage.
Phoenix Airport Museum History
The art in the airport has been a tradition since the 1960s when The Phoenix mural by Paul Coze was installed in the former Terminal 2’s lobby. The airport’s art program officially became a museum 38 years ago. Since the first exhibition, Dental Impressions, of children’s art posters, the Phoenix Airport Museum has presented more than 500 exhibitions highlighting Arizona’s culture.
Today, there are more than 1,000 artworks in the museum’s collection, including both architecturally integrated artwork, like artist-designed glass murals, as well as “portable art,” such as paintings, sculptures and fine art prints. The museum includes more than 40 exhibition display areas, with artworks and exhibitions located inside, outside, above and below.
Current Phoenix Airport Museum Exhibitions:
- Spectral Alchemy – Terminal 4, level 3 Gallery (pre-security)
- Brings together 15 local artists who create artwork with unique media to explore the creative and enchanting spirit of light.
- Fluoresce – Terminal 4, level 3, west of food court (pre-security)
- Features seven local artists who use blacklight paint to create vivid artworks that glow under ultraviolet light.
- Time & Place: Paintings by Martin Dimitrov – Terminal 4, level 3, in eight display cases on the east and west ends (pre-security, at both ends of level 3, outside of security entrances)
- Features more than 75 paintings highlighting Tempe-based artist Martin Dimitrov.
- Runway Fashion – Terminal 4, level 2 cases, near ticketing counters (pre-security)
- Showcases eight vintage flight attendant uniforms designed by notable fashion designers from the Aviation History Collection from the 1940s to 1980s.
- Desert Innovation – Terminal 4, level 3 along the passenger bridge between the A and D gates (post-security)
- Designed in partnership with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, this large-scale photo mural invites travelers to explore how the region paved the way to become a corridor for creativity and resilience.
- La Loteria – Terminal 3, level 4, east end (pre-security)
- Villegas’ series, La Lotería, transforms each card from the game’s 54 card deck into 54 vibrant paintings inspired by cultural stories, food and everyday items.
- Fly Over the West – Terminal 3, level 4, west end near PHX Sky Train® (pre-security)
- To promote its growing sightseeing business in the late 1920s, Scenic Airways captured aerial photographs to advertise that the best way to experience Arizona was from above, by airplane.
- Luis Jimenez artist spotlight – Terminal 3, level 1, northside (pre-security)
- Experience unique drawings and prints from the notable Mexican American sculptor, Luis Jiménez.
- Rooted & Rising – Terminal 3, level 4, west end gallery (post-security)
- Features 20 artists reflecting the evolving relationship between the desert’s natural and built environment.
Best Selfie Spots
Not only do the Phoenix Airport Museum exhibits offer a great way to witness creativity, but there are also several areas to capture the moment with a perfect selfie, including:
- Trace Elements by Daniel Mayer; Terminal 4, level 3, pedestrian bridges to PHX Sky Train® (pre-security)
- The Aviators by Donald Lipski; Terminal 3, level 4, east end (pre-security)
- The Ultimate Landscape by Merrill Mahaffey; Terminal 3, level 4 (post-security)
- The Phoenix by Paul Coze; Rental Car Center, level 3
- Sky Curtain, PHX Sky Train® Station at the Rental Car Center
Immersive artworks
Step into art at Phoenix Sky Harbor with multiple immersive artworks across the airport, including 10 artist-designed terrazzo floors throughout the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport system and Phoenix Light Passage by James Carpenter in Terminal 3, level 4, on the north concourse bridge (post-security).
Anyone can come see Phoenix Airport Museum artwork that is pre-security and in the Rental Car Center without an airline ticket. Use the PHX Sky Train® to travel between terminals and to the Rental Car Center.
The airport is Phoenix’s front door, and the Phoenix Airport Museum’s art and exhibitions give visitors an introduction to the inexhaustible array of artistic talent and cultural resources Arizona has to offer. Learn more about the Phoenix Airport Museum at skyharbor.com/museum.
