Yes, those are ‘monsters’ roaming through the San Diego airport
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.
In 2016 there were clowns at the checkpoints. In 2018 it was dancers hanging from the terminal rafters.
Now San Diego International Airport (SAN) has a troop of lumpy, colorful monsters roaming around.
SAN has a robust performing arts program that brings dance, theater, live music and special performances into the terminals.
Since 2016, the airport has also been hosting a Performing Arts Residency Program that invites artists and collectives to use the airport terminals, including the baggage claim areas and security checkpoints, as workshop space to develop, document and perform new work.
Sign up for the free daily TPG newsletter for more airline news
The newest group to be awarded a five-month residency is Beck+Col.
Beck and Collin Stafford make up the Los Angeles-based Beck+Col team that uses costume-based performance to explore what they describe as “alternate universes populated with monsters.”
The group’s performances include theatrical installations, elaborate costumes, wearable sculptures, dance, music and vocalizations.
“Resisting binary and hierarchical classifications, the monsters explore our behaviors in a space of indeterminacy — allowing for rethinking of power structures,” Beck+Col said via email.
During their residency at SAN, Beck+Col are sending their bright, lumpy-looking monsters into the airport. These monsters can only communicate through gestures and vocalizations, so their interactions with passengers are apt to be odd, interesting, memorable, maybe a bit scary, but certainly entertaining.
Previously, six groups, including Fern Street Circus and Astraeus Aerial Dance Theatre, have been in residence at the airport.
Passengers “have now come to expect the unexpected at this airport, in terms of arts and culture,” said Chris Chalupsky, senior manager of the arts program at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. “That’s really what the trend is in the larger arts field too – bringing enriching experiences to people in nontraditional venues and ways.”
Beck+Col should fit right in. “We think art is for everyone, so we jump at the opportunity to perform for an audience that is not necessarily a part of the small art world,” the duo said via email.
More: Alaska Airlines plans to join Oneworld, forms alliance with American
The five-month artist residencies at SAN airport are certainly nontraditional. They also create a great win-win for artists, the airport and the community: Performers get stipends, project funding and a unique space to create new work, while travelers encounter performing art in an unexpected place.
San Diego International isn’t the only airport to have a regular arts residency program. Similar programs have been set up at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport and Brisbane Airport in Australia, and other airports are exploring the concept.
Featured image courtesy of Beck+Col.
Sign-up Successful!
Welcome to The Points Guy!
Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first three months of card membership. Plus, earn a $200 statement credit after your first Delta purchase within the first three months. Offer ends 7/28/21.
With Status Boost™, earn 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, up to two times per year getting you closer to Medallion Status. Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels, 2X Miles at restaurants and at U.S. supermarkets and earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases. Terms Apply.
- Limited Time Offer: Earn 90,000 Bonus Miles after spending $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months and a $200 statement credit after you make a Delta purchase with your new Card within your first 3 months. Offer expires 7/28/2021.
- Limited Time Offer: Plus, get a 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening, then a variable 15.74%-24.74%. Offer expires 7/28/2021.
- Accelerate your path to Medallion Status, with Status Boost®. Plus, in 2021 you can earn even more bonus Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) to help you reach Medallion Status.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. *Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $75 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA Pre✓®.
- Enjoy an exclusive rate of $39 per person per visit to enter the Delta Sky Club® for you and up to two guests when traveling on a Delta flight.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $250 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees
Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.