Jeff Spevak

@jeffspevak1

A visitor’s first impression of this region, upon disembarking at Greater Rochester International Airport, should not be advertisements for Wegmans and law offices, but a sampling of the area’s rich cultural assets. So say local artists and supporters of the arts scene.

In this post-9/11 world, Michael A. Giardino says he has an airport to run.

It’s business vs. the arts and, with the removal of several high-profile pieces from public view at the airport over the last few years, business is winning. That’s prompted the arts community to take a stand, in the form of an online petition calling for Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo to restore the missing artwork.

Now stored in a warehouse – carefully, said Giardino, the airport director – are “Lunar Eclipse,” a towering abstract clock by world-renowned wood sculptor and Rochester resident Wendell Castle. It’s joined in retirement by the monolithic “Triad” by ceramic artist Nancy Jurs, whose works are in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Art and Design and the Memorial Art Gallery. Also banished is Ruth Manning’s “Dixie Wig Tapestry.”

These developments alarmed local photographer Richard Margolis, whose own contribution to the airport arts scene was “Rochester Landmarks Photographs,” two sets of five prints each, depicting mostly natural settings in the area. “Finally my prints came down and prompted me to go a little further,” said Margolis, who is behind the petition.

His prints were initially moved from the first floor of the airport to a wall on the second floor to make room for a lounge honoring veterans. Margolis said he was fine with that. But when “that wall was rented to Wegmans advertising vegetables, they moved my prints again,” he said. “I objected to that, they were not well hung. They were created to fit in a series. They re-enforce each other, the images flow from one to the next, they’re all in the same style.”

“They’re very large and they talk about Rochester,” said Roz Goldman, who was on the original committee that put the first pieces in place. “They talk about history, they talk about the arts. How many people know we have these parks? You just don’t do parks like that anymore.”

“We had an inquiry about advertising in one of those locations,” Giardino said. “As we have done on past occasions, art was moved.”

The Federal Aviation Administration has a hand in this.

“I can’t ignore these opportunities, the airport is not paid for by tax dollars, and I’m mandated by the FAA to make as much money as we can, generate as much revenue as we can,” Giardino said. “And advertising is a significant part of that.”

“There were a couple of meetings with people at the airport, they didn’t have a suitable place for them,” Margolis said of his prints.

Should we put ads on city property?

According to Giardino, “The artist didn’t agree, or didn’t want them displayed anywhere else, so we respected the artist’s wishes to take them down. We’re under no contractual obligation. We’d work with him again. We could put them up tomorrow. We don’t need his concurrence. I could put them up today if I wanted to.

“He didn’t like our plan for displaying his work, I respect that. He has a vision.”

Paid by the public

In fact, the airport does own the artwork. The first two pieces, “Lunar Eclipse” and Bill Stewart’s “The Council,” were paid for with funds approved by the Monroe County Legislature. The second round of art – Jurs’ “Triad,” Margolis’ photos, Manning’s tapestry, Peter McGrain’s giant “Stained Glass Window” and Susan Rowley’s “Airborne Stabile” – were paid for by art patrons, who raised the necessary $186,000 after the legislature turned down the request.

“Once they were paid for they were donated to the county,” Margolis said.

According to Jennifer Hanrahan, assistant director in charge of marketing/public relations at the airport, Castle was paid $125,000 for “Lunar Eclipse,” Jurs $70,000 for “The Triad” and Margolis $30,000 for “Rochester Landmarks Photographs.”

“The production cost was pretty high, way over my budget,” Margolis said; each print is 4x6 feet. “Kodak helped substantially with the cost, and the community group paid for my project.”

Boost to business

Giardino said the advertisements are a boost to local businesses. “Airports are economic drivers,” he said. “One of them is the largest employer in the area.”

That would be the University of Rochester. Another is Frontier, the telecommunications company. It is represented by a large Wi-Fi friendly kiosk.

“The Frontier Business Center at the airport replaced Nancy Jurs’ piece, I presume Frontier is paying for that,” Margolis said. “I’ve never seen anybody in there, certainly it’s not a popular place.”

"Triad" was initially removed to make way for Concourse A renovations that were completed on Aug. 21, 2007, But it never reclaimed its spot on the concourse, which went to the Frontier Business Center. "Triad" eventually made its way to Syracuse, on loan to a museum there, before being returned to Greater Rochester International Airport, which placed it in storage.

More puzzling is the disappearance of Castle’s “Lunar Eclipse.” Although that happened before Giardino took over at the airport four years ago, he said the piece was moved during an earlier renovation of the security checkpoint following 9/11. By the time that work was completed on Feb. 3, 2005, "Lunar Eclipse" had been tucked away in storage, where it has remained.

“It was moved because of construction for the new security system,” Margolis agreed. “But it could have gone back, there was plenty of room. It was clear the Neanderthals in the county didn’t like it.”

According to Giardino, “Part of my mandate is to look at passenger circulation, the best way to get passengers in and out of here.” So the old Midtown Plaza clock and the Frontier Business Center stay, “Lunar Eclipse” goes to the warehouse.

A question of balance

Giardino said a balance must be maintained among competing interests: building functionality, revenue streams and a representation of what the community has to offer.

“We consult with the original architects anytime we do something around here,” he said. “This building changes, we’re changing it now. The Cuomo administration is offering a $40 million upstate airport competition for renovations, that could once again change the building.”

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Goldman doesn’t see the kind of balance that might come with some oversight.

“We’re the only community of this size that does not have any arts planning, either in the city or the county,” said Goldman, who added she was surprised to find Manning’s “Dixie Wig Tapestry” hanging in a private office in the airport. “Anybody can do anything. If it’s good, we’re lucky. If it’s not good, we’re stuck.

“Advertising should be uniform and well designed, instead it’s plastered all over the airport. Just a blast of information on pizza and the UR, and nothing that would tell anybody the richness of what we have in this region.”

The online petition can be found at rochesternewyorkairportart.com. The petition is under the “Call to Action” section, which also includes a number of withering comments by supporters of the airport art.

“When visitors come into our airport, there is no indication of anything in our region,” Goldman said. “Nothing on the Finger Lakes, nothing on the wine industry, nothing on the Eastman School of Music, nothing on the orchestra, nothing on the ballet, nothing on the museums, nothing on our cultural institutions. There’s no sense of place, they’re looking at a ton of ads.

“It’s a detriment to the community. When I was working with the architects, one of them said, and I remember him saying this: ‘I can’t wait until they start putting the cars in here.’”

A facetious comment, but “it came true,” Goldman said. “There’s a Lexus near the entrance to the A concourse.”

JSPEVAK@Gannett.com