Title: Progression of Flight
Artist: Myklebust and Sears
Material: Stainless Steel and painted metal
Six metal representations of the progress of flight from dinosaurs to airplanes. Located on the corner posts of the windscreens on the station platform, these pieces include a dinosaur feather, a dragonfly wing, a bird feather and a plane prop.
Myklebust and Sears have created many terrazzo and metal artworks at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. This one is about the progression of flight from pterodactyls to dragonflies to birds to airplanes. The artwork is owned and maintained by the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.
Andrea Myklebust and Stanton Sears are a husband-and-wife team that has worked collaboratively since 1993 and have created more than 70 large-scale public art projects for sites across the United States. They have many pieces throughout the Twin Cities area, including popular mosaics at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport.
Myklebust and Sears create context-driven sculptural works which are made meaningful by reflecting the natural and cultural histories of their sites. They use many materials including stone, metal and terrazzo with many of their pieces incorporating lighting elements.
Terrazzo floor at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport by Mykleburst and Sears
The Metro Transit Public Art Collection is one of the largest collections of public art in Minnesota. There are 38 sites with 70 public artworks created by 32 artists. If you look at a typical site, like Fairview Avenue Station, which is considered one site and one public artwork, there are eight separate mosaics at that station. Small Kindnesses: Weather Permitting by Janet Zweig is considered one public artwork, but consists of 24 separate pieces at seven different stations. This actually means that the Metro Transit Public Art Collection of 70 public artworks could be considered to have more than 350 individual public art pieces.
Twenty of these works are integrated into the construction of light-rail stations to such a degree that the station itself is the work of art. By comparison, in 2016 the City of St. Paul has 84 artworks at 63 sites by 44 artists and the City of Minneapolis has 64 artworks at 55 sites by 57 artists.
The art in the Metro Transit Collection varies greatly with everything from ceramic tiles, to laser-cut metals, to laminated and screened glass, to bronze, stone and wood sculptures. There are even interactive pieces with screens and circuit boards.
Small Kindnesses: Weather Permitting by Janet Zweig – located at seven Blue Line stations
Midas Fence by Deborah Mersky and paver design by Richard Elliott – American Boulevard Station
Ancient Waters by Janet Lofquist – Robert Street Station
The Great Northern 4-8-4 Mountain Class by Myckelburst and Sears – Union Depot Station