Airports With the Best Artwork

Don’t have time to visit the museum at your destination? Along with fine dining, boutique shopping and full-service spas, top-notch art collections are now permanent amenities at many airport terminals. Here are some of the best exhibits in North America.

Vancouver features one of the most extensive collections of Northwest Coast aboriginal art. Highlights include Bill Reid’s oft-photographed “Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Jade Canoe,” a huge bronze sculpture also seen on the back of Canada’s $20 bill, and “Flight Spindle Whorl,” by Musqueam First Nation artist Susan Pointe. 19 feet wide and made of red cedar, this traditional circular carving welcomes travelers with two eagles, two humans, salmon, the moon, the Earth and the sun.

Slide show text by Harriet Baskas; photo editing by Connie Ricca.

Harriet Baskas writes regularly about airports, air travel and other adventures for MSNBC.com and USAToday.com and on her Stuck at the Airport blog, http://www.stuckattheairport.com.