Art Exhibition Takes Off at Milwaukee Airport

Kelly Alexander Wendorf’s “Lines That Connect Us,” the fourth piece in her “Threads of Flight” installation at the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Nov. 10, 2026.

Art should exist even in the most transient of spaces.

At least that’s the thinking behind a partnership between Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) that recently placed a new art installation in Concourse D of the airport.

Titled “Threads of Flight,” the installation features seven individual works by Kelly Alexander Wendorf, a papercutting artist and alumna of MIAD. The pieces draw on themes of wonder, transition, nature and flight to tell a story about connection, movement and changing perspectives. They are hung in a long horizontal line, encouraging visitors to slow down, take a journey through the series and contemplate what air travel means to them.

“To have artwork in an airport that so many people walk through every day is a big opportunity and a great accomplishment,” Wendorf told Urban Milwaukee.

The first work in the series, titled “Ready for Takeoff,” is inspired by Wendorf’s two young children, who find the airport to be an exciting, awe-inspiring place. Against a bold sky-blue background, the piece layers silhouettes of two children peering out a window onto a tarmac scene featuring an incoming plane.

“When I thought about the project, I wanted to think more about children’s perspectives around flying,” Wendorf said. “But then you eventually get older and your perspective shifts. You’re a little more worried about the timing, packing and scheduling of getting from one place to another. So these pieces slowly transition towards different perspectives to illuminate growing up.”

Indeed, the fourth piece, titled “Between Moments,” peers into the mind of an adult silhouette, where an intricately cut plane and bird swirl around a curving, overlapping dark blue line that resembles folds of the human brain as well as flight patterns and interwoven thoughts.

The piece that lands in the series’ center, titled “Lines That Connect Us,” stands out for its connection to Milwaukee. Against a backdrop of the continental United States, lines of paper extending outward from Milwaukee reach across the country. Colorful layers of paper cut to resemble prairies, water and grasslands are positioned across the map, lending fine details to the scene.

“I was really excited to think about the different landscapes across the country and how I could incorporate their colors,” Wendorf said.

Across the series, nature scenes and birds in flight are recurring motifs. This, Wendorf said, is based on the longtime desire of humans to fly.

“The inspiration behind why we fly is birds. We had to study birds to learn how they get into the air and stay there,” she said. “I wanted to bring that visual component inside the airport.”

Overall, the installation is a bold pop of artistic charisma in a place one might not expect, inviting travelers to and from Milwaukee to think a bit more deeply about human flight.

“Threads of Flight” is MIAD’s third installation in partnership with the airport. It is located at gate D43.

“Threads of Flight” installation. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Nov. 10, 2026.

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