b'80 MDW ARTSCAPESTuskegee Airmen TributeWhile many U.S. and Canadian airports prepare special displaysInterestingly, the Tuskegee Airmen Commemorative on for Black History Month each February, Chicago Midwaydisplay at MDW is not typical of Wirsums work. The Chicago International Airport (MDW) has a long-standing, year-round tributeartist, who died in 2021 at age 81, was much better known at the south end of its Ticketing Hall. The architectural glass muralfor portraying people than planes. One gallery owner from by Karl Wirsum honors the Tuskegee Airmen, Americas first BlackNew York characterized his exploration of the human figure as military aviators, whose contributions during World War II were notextraordinarily inventive, and described his paintings as extremely broadly acknowledged until long after the war. vibrant and joyous, but also sometimes dark and complex. The luminous large-scale artwork features stylized aircraftThe bold colors and graphic style of the Tuskegee Airmen and insignia of the Tuskegee squadrons, which distinguishedCommemorative are reminiscent of Wirsums earlier work themselves for tactical air support and aerial combat. Thefrom the 1960s, when he and five other young Chicago artists Chicago Public Art Guide compares the way the images arecollaborated as the Hairy Who. After graduating from the formal organized to aircraft flying in formation, as though the elementsschool associated with the Art Institute of Chicago, Wirsum and are passing each other in aerial high-fives.his cohorts created uninhibited, irreverent and witty exhibits that reflected the social and political upheaval of the times. January | February 2025AirportImprovement.com'