A landmark public art commission for the new terminal at Kansas City International Airport, created by artist Willie Cole – one of 28 commissions in the largest public art undertaking in Kansas City history.
When Kansas City opened its stunning new single terminal at KCI, it committed to filling it with world-class public art that reflected the city's cultural identity. The One Percent for Art Program issued an international open call for submissions — a rare and ambitious opportunity to embed $5 million of newly commissioned art in the award-winning $1.5 billion airport terminal. The challenge was to propose a work that was both visually commanding at airport scale and deeply rooted in Kansas City's cultural story.
ThirdSpace Partners joined forces with artist Willie Cole to develop the winning proposal for Node B — the terminal's City Market-themed retail concourse. Artist Willie Cole created Ornithology: twelve larger-than-life birds constructed entirely from alto saxophones, suspended from the ceiling in a golden, glinting flock — as a tribute to Kansas City native son and jazz great Charlie "Yardbird" Parker, and his 1946 tune of the same name.
Kansas City is the only city in the United States designated by UNESCO as a City of Music, and Parker's bebop revolution grew directly out of that tradition. From proposal through installation, ThirdSpace Partners managed the full arc of the project — coordinating team and partner communications, contracting lighting designers and lift operators, procuring materials, and managing budget, timelines, and approvals through to the final installation on October 24, 2022.
"Lillian was a joy to work with on Willie Cole's public art work for Kansas City International Airport… I was grateful for her reliability and her ability to communicate effectively with project partners and stakeholders. I knew that I could count on her to keep the commission moving forward when my attention needed to be elsewhere."
— James Martin, Kansas City Percent for Art
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"Improvisation is the reordering of pre-learned information."— Willie Cole
Ornithology was installed to immediate critical and public acclaim, covered by seven Kansas City media outlets within weeks of its unveiling. One of 28 commissions in the largest public art undertaking in Kansas City history, Ornithology has become one of the defining works of the new KCI terminal — a golden flock of jazz birds soaring above travelers, connecting the city's musical past to its civic future.
