San Francisco International Airport
Terminal 2
Baggage Claim Level 1
Dan Snyder – Polyurethane Paint on Aluminum -1983
Titled Welcome North, Welcome South, Welcome East, Welcome West, is designed to greet visitors from around the world.
According to Mr Snyder’s website:
Dan was born in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands in 1941. His father was a naval officer stationed there at the time. Growing up he lived largely in seaport towns in the United States. After graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut with a major in theater, he attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and then went on to the University of New Mexico where he received an MFA in studio art and art history.
For many years Mr. Snyder taught both art and theater in private schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut. After teaching he worked as an illustrator for advertising, editorial illustration for The Hartford Courant, and children’s book illustration, as well as designing and painting sets for local theater productions. Then for three years he was head designer of exhibits at the Science Center of Connecticut. In 1995 Dan moved to Maine with fellow artist Betsy Gardiner. He continues to paint and exhibit his work, as well as do design and illustration for businesses and organizations.
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Baggage claim has to be one of the most stressed areas in the airport for me! A bit of art would help a lot.
Public art really can tone down the industrial, impersonal feel of a big space. And then there’s the unintended humor. I couldn’t help but read this as “Yippee, my bags arrived on the same plane as me.”