Indianapolis International Airport unveils art to honor Weir Cook

A new art project at Indianapolis International Airport pays homage to the airfield's former namesake.

Travelers will pass the new project as they walk from the ticket counters toward security checkpoints. Its six panels depict Col. Weir Cook, his World War I-era Spad fighter plane and historic moments in airport history.

Officially installed Wednesday, the project took two years and three Indianapolis firms to complete.

The panels feature a timeline of air travel in Indianapolis, where the airfield used to be known as Weir Cook Municipal Airport. Mounted on them are plaques celebrating airport expansions and historic flights, which had been in storage since the new terminal opened in 2008.

"I like to keep and protect historical things," said Bob Duncan, deputy executive director with the Indianapolis Airport Authority. "They needed something special, rather than hanging on the wall."

Hendrix Rader Wise, Axis Architecture and GRT Glass Design, all local firms, collaborated on the project. The $70,000 in design and installation costs were funded by the airport authority.

The project posed challenges, said Gregory Thompson, owner of GRT Glass Design, and Tony Murcia, a designer with Hendrix Rader Wise. Designers had to work out how to achieve the effect they wanted while balancing structural and safety concerns.

"We knew what we wanted to do," Murcia said, "but we had to figure out how to make it possible."

The resulting look is that the plaques and original drawings of the airport seem suspended several feet off the ground and away from the limestone wall behind them. Incorporating these elements with images of Cook is fitting, Duncan said, because of Cook's ties to the airport.

Cook, born in Wilkinson, Ind., flew fighter planes in World War I. He played a role in bringing Indianapolis its first airport, which opened in 1931.

He died in a plane crash in New Caledonia during World War II, and the city named the airport for him. In the 1970s, the airport was renamed Indianapolis International Airport, removing Cook's legacy.

In recent years, Cook has come back into vogue at the airport, which announced last month it will soon install a statue depicting the aviator. The terminal, though not the airport itself, today bears his name.

Call Star reporter Michael Auslen at (317) 444-6077. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelAuslen.