So That's Why
I have always wondered why the Denver airport has so much goofy modern art all over the place. Even the subway tunnels have art on the walls (I must admit I am kind of partial to the little fans on the outbound train trip). There are replicas of paper airplanes hanging from the ceilings, a fountain that is supposed to model the Front Range, and a fake Mayan temple in one terminal concourse. It turns out that Colorado has a law that says that 1% of the budget for public building construction has to go for art. Given that the airport costs overran to $4.8 billion, that was a $48 million boondoggle for every goofy public artist that could pull up to the trough.
