Kansas City International Airport

Ornithology Soundscape designed by Caridad Cole, including sounds from Charlie Parker’s “Ornithology”, Willie Cole’s voice, and the songs of 4 out of 9 of Missouri’s endangered birds: American Bittern, Bachman’s Sparrow, King Rail, and Peregrine Falcon.

 

About the project –

“Ornithology” is an installation by Willie Cole in the New Terminal at Kansas City International Airport. The work consists of twelve larger-than-life birds made entirely from alto saxophones. Suspended from the ceiling in City Market-themed Retail Node B, this artwork is a tribute to Kansas City native son and jazz great, Charlie “Yardbird” Parker, and his 1946 tune titled, "Ornithology". The birds were constructed in the historic 18th & Vine District in Kansas City, and installed in the New Terminal on October 24, 2022, with support from project partners, Lillian Cho, Hortense Duthilleux, Lighting Director, and Mike “The Horn Doctor” Corrigan of BAC Music.

Charlie Parker’s singular vision and innovative style grew out of the city’s long musical tradition, and is part of the legacy that helped to establish the city’s world-class reputation as a musical capital. Contemporaraneous musicians riffed off of each other’s sounds and fueled competition and creativity among peers. This culture of convergence and “cross-pollination” paved the way for the city to later earn its distinction as the only city in the United States designated by UNESCO as the “City of Music”.

Willie Cole’s “Ornithology” pays tribute to Parker’s world-class contributions, and that of the musical legacy that thrives in Kansas City to this day. It is also a quiet celebration of the rich cultural diversity and creativity of Kansas City itself, its people, and the surrounding natural landscape.

Both the song and the sculpture beckon listeners and viewers to ascend above the fray of humanness the same way that birds do. As Cole states, “it’s about layering and synchronizing symbols, about being both conceptual and contextual.” Charlie Parker once said, “Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.”

 

About the artist –

Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Born and raised in New Jersey, Cole forged an early path into the arts. After graduating from the Arts High School of Newark, Cole attended Boston University School of Fine Arts and, in 1976, received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York. He engaged in further studies at the Art Students League of New York until 1979.

Cole’s impressive resume includes Artist-in-Residence at the Studio Museum of Harlem and the 2006 David C. Driskell Prize. His stunning work has found places in some of the nation’s most prestigious collections and museums, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

Known for assembling ordinary objects into sculptural installations, Cole repeatedly uses single objects to form groups, creating metaphoric patterns that redefine their meaning and purpose.

You can read more about Willie here: williecole.com/contact and support the legacy of past, present, and future Black artists by purchasing Black Art Matters merchandise here: williecole.com/bam