Ebb and Flow IV

Project Description In 300 words or less, describe the project. Consider listing the artist(s)’s intention(s), community impact and/or development processes.

Fiber artist and papermaker Megan Singleton created an installation inside the St. Louis Lambert International Airport that beautifies and enriches the public space while educating viewers about the environment. Installed at the center of a baggage carousel, the side of the installation first visible is a dynamic relief of blues and grays spidering, intersecting and tapering across most of the forty-foot wall. The design is an interpretation of the shape of the Lower Missouri River Watershed, the land just at the edge of the Airport. Singleton has drawn the lines of streams, creeks and rivers, not in paint, but in thick lines of paper pulp made from local plants; the unusual materials create a dimensional, meandering design. The artwork on the opposite side of the baggage carousel, presents a series of silhouette drawings of native Missouri aquatic plants, laser-cut from paper made from the plant depicted in the image. Set behind panels of plexi-glass, Singleton details the features of each plant and its scientific name with the precision of a Victorian herbarium specimen. Singleton’s installation investigates the ecological relationships between society and the natural landscape. Mirrored in the patterns and shapes of plants and waterways is the movement of travelers gathering here from hundreds of locations and continuing on their way. Through these connections, Singleton hopes to educate visitors waiting for their luggage about the environmental systems at work just below their feet and inspire communities to care for the growth and revitalization of their natural landscapes.

Location

St. Louis Lambert International Airport

10701 Lambert International Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63145

Location Description *Describe the location of the project or artwork, such as indoors or outdoors, on a wall or on the floor, etc.

The mural is located in the baggage claim area inside Terminal 2 at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. The Airport’s Terminal 2 and will welcome more than 5 million passengers over the next 18 months. The enclosed long rectangular block at the center of each baggage carousel stretches more than 40 feet on two sides and reaches from the top of the carousel more than 8-feet to the ceiling. The walls fully surround and hide the inner workings of the carousel and their centrality in the space make them the default view for passengers surrounding the carousel and waiting for their luggage. The challenges of the space included the scale of walls, available working hours in a busy airport terminal, access to the walls over the wide, slanted carousel machine, and most importantly, creation of a design that would create interest among an extremely diverse group of people while competing with a hectic public environment.