b'72 LGA ARTSCAPESPHOTO: THOMAS BARRATT AND ANTON KERN GALLERYElevating Employees to Artwork Its said that too many cooks in the kitchen spoil theand listening to their stories so she can do their faces, bodies broth, but the adage applies to other artistic pursuits asand personalities justice with every brushstroke. Typically, this well. LaGuardia Airport (LGA) recently learned that threehappens in person, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted is the ideal number for a mural project: the Port Authority of Newher to videochat with subjects for the LGA project instead. York and New Jersey, Delta Air Lines and the Queens Museum.The international artist and professor at Columbia Universitys The trios successful collaboration facilitated The OnesSchool of the Arts describes her process as extremely Who Make It Run by Aliza Nisenbaum, a large-scale mural indeliberate and slow, with each portrait taking three to 10 hours Terminal C that portrays workers who assist travelers and keepto sketch and paint.aircraft flying in and out of the facility day after day, night afterAfter Nisenbaum completed her composite portrait of the night. A diverse group of 16 employees from Delta, the Portterminals workforce, a historic glass and mosaic studio called Authority and their contracted service providers was selectedMayer of Munich translated it into a glass mosaic mural. The to represent many thousands of others. Among those depictedairport displayed a reproduction of Nisenbaums original oil are airline crew members, maintenance and facilities workers,painting until the roughly 6- by-17-foot mosaic was installeda taxi dispatcher, customer service personnel and a casein late April 2024. worker from an outreach organization for those experiencingThe Ones Who Make It Run is one of several foundational homelessness.pieces commissioned for Deltas $4 billion redevelopment I had no idea before I started this, the tremendous amountproject that replaced terminals C and D with the new Terminal of labor that goes into running an airport, Nisenbaum saidC. The Port Authority, Delta and Queens Museum collaborated in a documentary about the project. My artwork is aboutto elevate the travel experience for guests in the 1.2 million-the everyday people who work, the labor that it takes to putsquare-foot terminal by adding permanent large-scale works together an airport, and putting a face to that labor. from six locally based artists that celebrate the cultural heritage In addition to taking photos of her subjects to reference whileof New York City and honor its immigrant story. painting, Nisenbaum spends hours getting to know each one March | April 2025AirportImprovement.com'