October 2026      AirportImprovement.com
72
ARTSCAPES
MCI 
Flyover Feature  
The next time you’re flying into Kansas City International 
Airport (MCI), make sure to book a seat with a window 
to your right for fantastic views of Strange Attractor by 
Alice Aycock. Planes landing on Runway 19L pass directly by 
the large outdoor sculpture, which is located inside a roundabout 
enroute to the economy parking lot.  
Day and night alike, its 42-foot-tall zigzags glow bright 
orange, and soft light emanates from both bells of the metal 
horn. Together, they form a device that looks like it could 
broadcast messages to or from outer space. 
“The sculpture evokes the spaces created by wind tunnels, 
which are used to test the aerodynamics of airplane designs,” 
explains Aycock. “It also suggests future travel through 
wormholes or time machines imagined in science fiction as well 
as the astrophysics illustrations of Stephen Hawking.”
The sculpture is especially crisp and vivid following a 
restoration project MCI completed this May. But that wasn’t 
always the case.
Originally installed back in 2007, Strange Attractor was 
fabricated like an airplane—an armature wrapped in aluminum 
skin. Aycock specifically used dull rather than shiny aluminum 
to prevent glare for pilots on the nearby airfield; so that portion 
of the sculpture hadn’t changed much over the years. Other 
parts, however, had weathered and fallen into disrepair. By the 
time Arts Program Manager Mark Spencer was hired in 2022, 
the orange acrylic was fading to white, and the neon lights were 
barely visible, even at night. Returning the artwork to its original 
splendor was high on Spencer’s to-do list. 
The effort began in 2024 with a cautious inquiry to Aycock 
for permission. “She was very involved and OK’d our plan,” 
says Spencer. “We were even able to work with her original 
lighting designer [Marty Chafkin of PerfectionElectricks]. In the 
end, she thanked us for taking care of her artwork.”
Funding was another early issue. Per the city’s One Percent 
for Art Program, initial commission and installation costs were 
part of the project budget when MCI renovated and expanded 
its economy parking lot; but future maintenance expenses 
were not. The Kansas City Aviation Department, which owns 
and operates MCI, consequently funded the recent $88,000 
restoration. 
Local contractors replaced the original neon lights with LEDs, 
repaired reflectors inside the aluminum horn and replaced the 
faded acrylic portions. They also hid drivers for the new LED 
fixtures within the artwork, a change that Aycock fully blessed. 
If you’re not able to view Strange Attractor from an airplane, 
the next best option is from a vehicle navigating the roundabout 
where the sculpture is located. “You circle around and get a 
great look at it from all angles,” Spencer advises. 

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.