Indy airport replaces art installation with LED display featuring advertisements

A decision to remove a large piece of art at the Indianapolis International Airport and replace it with an LED screen displaying advertisements has met opposition from the artist and the artistic community.

“Chrysalis” is a large geometric art display that was created by the artist James Wille Faust and was removed Monday night. It stood in the three-story tall stairway to the main entrance of the Indianapolis airport.

The art installation was moved into storage and will be replaced by a 22-by-7.5 foot LED screen that will display advertisements alongside moving art exhibits.

Faust protested the removal of his artwork in a statement released to the press.

“The act of removing Chrysalis by artist James Wille Faust at the Indianapolis International Airport in the middle of the night was a bypassing of the Mayor’s office, the City County Councilor’s office, the Arts community, and the Citizens of the City of Indianapolis who have strongly supported this artwork and not its removal,” Faust said in the statement. “We believe this defiant and perceived underhanded action speaks for itself.”

The removal has inspired resistance among the artistic and cultural communities in Indianapolis. A Facebook group called “Save ‘Chrysalis’, art at the Indianapolis Airport,” sprouted in support of the artwork. Currently, it has approximately 400 members.

The Indianapolis Airport Authority considered other options before removing “Chrysalis,” including moving it to another location in the airport. The airport’s leaders eventually decided to put the work into storage until a mutually agreed upon location for the work could be found.

“We regret that this process affected ‘Chrysalis,’ a much-admired piece that helped garner praise for our (art) program,” John D. Clark III, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, told the Indianapolis Star. “However, art will continue to complement and strengthen the award-winning beauty of our terminal and concourses.”

The new LED screen will display at least one art video, as well as numerous advertisements on a continuous loop.

— Zach Ammerman