A tour of the most eye-catching art

When you first step off the escalator into Terminal 1 of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, you’ll hear the unexpected.

Chirping birds. Rushing water. Voices describing the flora and fauna of South Florida.

It might feel like an Everglades boat tour, but the sounds actually are part of “Wavescape,” an audio installation by Paul DeMarinis. It’s triggered by the motion of passers-by.

It’s one of the many installations in the airport’s vast public art collection, and an apt introduction to its representation of South Florida’s tropical heritage. The artwork has been curated through the years. And more installations are in the works, from talks of adding a glowing waterfall display to a recent plan to add brightly colored bird sculptures as part of the airport’s expansion plan.

“When we commission an artist, we let them pick whatever they want to do, as long as it reflects the region in some way,” said Christina Roldan, the public art manager for the Broward County Aviation Department. “In Florida, it’s more airy, the water, calming, beachy. It’s a general feel that you want to convey to them, like you arrived in Fort Lauderdale, or Broward County, or South Florida.”

Ahead of the new art that’s on the way, Roldan recently provided the South Florida Sun Sentinel a tour of the many displays that already greet travelers every day at the busy airport.

Sure, some travelers may be too focused on catching their flights to stop and take in the views. But if you look for it, there’s no shortage of art to find.

âWavelength,â a laser cut aluminum suspended artwork by Emily White,...

“Wavelength,” a laser cut aluminum suspended artwork by Emily White, hangs inside Terminal 1 at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

United flight attendant Lindsey Robinson stops to photograph “Notice,” by Lori Pratico, at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

Bodhi Suboyu, 4, launches his toy airplane while playing on “Cloudscape,” an interactive play area by Volkan Alkanoglu, at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

A pedestrian walks across Marielle Plaisir’s terrazzo installation, “A Journey,” at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

Travelers ride an escalator inside of “Light Cylinders,” by Jody Pinto, in the Hibiscus Garage at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

“Vendor with Walkman,” by Duane Hanson, is a painted bronze sculpture that sits in Terminal 1 at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

Travelers pass “Sunken Treasure” by Guy Harvey, a three-story, hand-embellished vinyl wrap at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

“Mangrove Islands,” by Thomas H. Sayre, is an integrated art terrazzo floor inside the Rental Car Center at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

Pedestrians pass “Centro de Formacao,” a 198-foot ceramic tile mural by Sarah Morris, in Terminal 1 at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

“Light Cylinders,” by Jody Pinto, is shown in the Hibiscus Garage at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

“Sunrise to Sunset,” by Gordon Huether, is made of individual glass panels hung at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. It’s seen here on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

A traveler passes “Stone and Glass Gardens” by Alice Adams, at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

Elizabeth Busch’s “Gateway to the South” is on display in the baggage claim area in Terminal 1 at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

Susan Harlan’s textile quilt, “Chasing Armadillos,” is on display in the baggage claim area in Terminal 1 at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett / Sun Sentinel)

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A captivating sunset

A tour through Terminal 1 will first take you through the baggage claim area, where your eyes may drift up above the carousels to take in quilted tapestries featuring the imagery of life beside the Everglades and beaches.

Elizabeth Busch’s “Gateway to the South” depicts the colorful, yellow-streaked sunset above the swamplands, stretching up over deep blue waters and leafy green vegetation in unique geometric patterns.

Looking left, you’ll catch Susan Harlan’s “Chasing Armadillos,” where each of the 72 quilt squares capture a vignette of tropical life: a pelican lounging beside a beachball on the sand, jumping dolphins and fish emerging from the water, a flip flop resting between leafy patterns on a beach towel.

A large glass box between carousels 2 and 3 might make you stop in your tracks to do a double-take.

On first glance, you may think you see a man trapped inside, sitting on a chair as he listens to music.

But after you realize he’s sitting too still, you’ll realize you’re actually looking at “Vendor with a Walkman,” a hyper-realistic painted bronze sculpture by the late Duane Hanson.

It weighs more than 300 pounds.

“It definitely gets a lot of attention,” Roldan said. “It’s a sight for people waiting for their baggage here, and sometimes, people think he’s real.”

Once you’ve processed that you’ve been staring at a sculpture — and not a real man — you’ll hop on an escalator up one level, where stepped limestone platforms bear small plants and an aluminum boat frame with painted, swooping lines.

This sculpture environment in the departures area is one piece of Alice Adams’ “Stone and Glass Gardens,” which also includes two pieces in the arrivals area.

Tempered glass panels sitting atop the limestone create a green-blue sheen resembling water, allowing the piece to “establish a metaphor for the Everglades,” according to Roldan.

A repetition of words

When you’re walking across any of the three levels, you might notice a blue tint over the paneled wall of windows.

And when you look more closely, you’ll see words printed in white, repeating terms that make travelers think of Florida in space-free lines: “cloudlessskyandcloudlesssky…”; “sunsetpauseandsunsetpause…”;”brightestmorningandbrightestmorning…”, to name a few.

“Idea Horizon,” the glass curtain wall design by Liam Gillick, may create a disorienting effect at first, with its lack of spaces between each word.

But the piece can’t help but capture your attention as you stand before it and try to piece out what each line means.

After you walk across the ticketing area, you’ll find a vast, stunning mural that stretches from the ceiling down to the bottom level.

Guy Harvey’s “Sunken Treasure,” painted in vivid blues and yellows on vinyl, depicts a lit seascape featuring swimming fish and a ship underwater.

On the top level, a giant swordfish leaps out of the water against the luminous sky, with Fort Lauderdale’s old skyline faintly visible above the water.

“A lot of people identify it with FLL,” Roldan said. “I think because it’s bold, and because it’s really accessible. It’s beautiful, and it looks like Fort Lauderdale.”

Going down the escalator past “Sunken Treasure,” you’ll end up stepping out onto more artwork on the second level: The green terrazzo floor of the east mezzanine is where Carolyn Braaksma’s “River of Grass” creates the imagery of a swampscape under your feet.

Swirling blue waters, swathes of grass, and wildlife creatures like frogs, fish, turtles, and snakes adorn the floor, taking travelers to the Everglades’ diverse ecosystem.

Terminal 1’s rental car center extends the sensation of walking through South Florida’s natural ecosystem with “Mangrove Islands,” a unique terrazzo floor project by Thomas Sayre.

As you climb from the second to fourth floor, you rise through a cross-section of a mangrove forest: At the second level, you’ll see the base rings of trees clustered around, with a few marine animals swimming between them.

The third floor cuts through the middle of the tree trunks, where more sea animals like turtles swim around. On the fourth floor, you stand between the leafy green tree tops and striped butterflies.

Colorful light streams into the rental car center through Gordon Huether’s “Sunrise to Sunset,” a large window display of colorful glass squares.

From the walkway between the rental car center and security, you can watch as the sun casts blues, yellows, and purple rays of light into the seating area through the display.

“All the light sparkles on the floor, and it’s almost like a stained-glass effect,” Roldan said. “It takes inspiration to apply the artwork to the impact glass.”

Depending on how much time it takes for you to get through TSA, it won’t be long until you begin to encounter more dynamic artwork on your way to your gate area.

If you’re heading through Concourse A, you might hop onto the moving walkway and lean against your suitcase as you take in “Centro De Formação” by Sarah Morris, a painted ceramic tile display that stretches along its entire length.

Each tile bears a quarter-slice of a circle in varying colors and orientations, creating mesmerizing geometric designs together as you move along toward your destination.

If you’re traveling with children, you may be in luck once you reach the end of the walkway: A large display tucked on the side of the concourse doubles as artistic sculpture and a playground fit for running and climbing.

Volkan Alkanoglu’s “Cloudscape” allows children to explore looping white cloud-shaped structures that can serve as furniture or a jungle gym of sorts.

Ariel Suboyu, 33, whose young children spent time inside “Cloudscape,” said she appreciated the space as her family waited for their departing flight.

“They kind of just stumbled on it. I think they loved it, I definitely enjoyed it,” Suboyu said. “I think that it’s something every airport should have. A place for the kids to go play for a bit, because they gotta sit still on the plane for hours.”

If you’re looking for a spot to rest your legs inside the terminal, you may find yourself in Concourse A’s large, daylit lounge area, which sits right beside several of the airport’s restaurants and bars.

Suspended high above your head in the center of the lounge, you won’t miss Emily White’s “Wavelength,” a dazzling display of aluminum slices in a purple, white, and blue color gradient, structured like an ocean wave in motion.

While those sitting under “Wavelength” may feel like they’re looking up from underneath a wave, people looking from afar may believe they’re seeing a whale swimming through the sea.

“When I see it, it reminds me of the sea, and I see different aspects of it: the deep blue sea, and also the white sky, and the lightness in the sky,” Abraham Perez, a bartender at the nearby La Familia Tacos & Tequila establishment, said. “It just reminds me that I’m here in Florida, in a beautiful tropical place.”

If you’re a traveler headed to Concourse C, you’ll get to experience immersive exhibitions inside the Terminal 1 art gallery, which rotate every six months.

Right now, the gallery is home to “NOTICE” by Lori Pratico, an installation that displays the names of over 100 prominent female artists in block letters across the walls.

The printed names of South Florida artists, like K.G. Lopez and Judy Polstra, stand out from the others in light blue text.

Four sketches of women and girls printed on translucent orange and purple sheets are suspended in the center of the exhibit.

Lindsey Robinson, a United Airlines flight attendant waiting to catch her next flight, said the purple color first caught her eye.

“Purple to me is a symbol of power in life. So I think this is gorgeous. I love how it draws your eye to everything as it flows in, when you look at it,” Robinson said. “When I think about a woman’s voice in the world, I love women’s art.”

If you’re leaving the airport, you’ll walk out of Terminal 1 under the “Wavescape” audio installation across the speckled blue terrazzo floor.

Under your feet, you’ll notice twisting tree branches, golden leaves, and blooming pink flowers: all part of Davie-based artist Marielle Plaisir’s piece, “A Journey.”

Even the Hibiscus Garage is a testament to the reach of public artwork at the airport. The escalators that take travelers through the parking levels of different terminals are surrounded by the colorful, lit metal tubes of Jody Pinto’s “Light Cylinders,” which will keep you shrouded in color whether you’re arriving or leaving Fort Lauderdale on your travels.

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