Have You Heard: You Can View a Piece of Arizona Through Our Viewing Scopes

The Phoenix Airport Museum has more than 1,000 artworks in its collection, making it one of the largest airport art museums in the country.

One of the largest and most beloved works is located at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport’s Rental Car Center. The Phoenix has welcomed travelers to Arizona for nearly 60 years after becoming the City’s first public art commission in 1962. A handful of artists were invited to design a mural to grace the new “space-age” lobby in what used to be Terminal 2. The five finalists’ designs were voted on by the public at the Phoenix Library where The Phoenix won the community’s heart.

The 75-foot-wide by 16-foot-high mural by Paul Coze consists of three panels illustrating Arizona’s past, present, and future reflective of that time. It was created with 52 different materials including sand and soil collected from different parts of Arizona. Fifteen uniquely shaped painted canvases were adhered to the wall and embellished with non-traditional items such as plastics, shells, and semi-precious stones.

Following the demolition of Terminal 2, The Phoenix was relocated to the Rental Car Center above the central escalators in 2021. Today the iconic mural can be viewed in detail through viewing scopes accompanied by a museum display that provides information on how the mural was created.