Houston, Texas – The Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (MOCA), through the City of Houston’s Civic Art Program and on behalf of the Houston Airport System (HAS), is requesting  submissions of qualifications from artists and artist teams to design, fabricate and install five major permanent works of public art for the new international terminal at the George Bush Intercontinental  Airport. This opportunity is open to all artists in the United States and international artists in the Americas with U.S. representation.

“As a global city, Houston is also the nation’s most diverse city. One in four Houston residents was  born abroad, and more than 145 languages are spoken here,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “It is fitting that we open this opportunity to artists from across the Americas whose talents can articulate  the kaleidoscope of people that make our city special. These artworks will not only leave a profound  impression on travelers passing through our international airport hubs but will also strengthen our standing as a premier international city.”

Once complete, the new international terminal will feature a modernized ticketing and arrivals hall and will fully support post-pandemic growth in international traffic at the airport. It will also address capacity constraints in the central terminal area and improve baggage handling system capacity and reliability challenges. Additional international gates will welcome passengers travelling internationally with new views of artworks from Houston-area artists, commissioned through previously released opportunities.

Houston Arts Alliance (HAA), in collaboration with MOCA, will manage the artist selection process for this investment in public art, which has a reserved budget of 3 million dollars from HAS.

Five separate Requests for Qualifications are being released to commission artworks for the following key architectural spaces in the new international terminal: