Propellers, Pinwheels and WindWheels
Boston Logan International Airport Welcomes Back Old Friend

BOSTON – Boston Logan International Airport welcomed back a whimsical old friend today as it commemorated the return of the kinetic pinwheel sculpture called WindWheels. The recently-restored sculpture was created in 1981 by William Wainwright, and was originally on display in the airport’s Terminal C starting in 1982. The iconic sculpture is one of Massport’s first pieces of artwork that helped establish Logan Airport’s public art program.

Wainwright’s sculpture is now installed in the North Service Area Roadway Corridor, at the intersection of Neptune Road and Frankfort Street, and is the crown jewel in a $4.5 million renovation of the corridor, which connects the airport with East Boston. The sculpture combines the effects of wind and light by using refractive and reflective metal surfaces that create a dance of brilliant color.

“We are proud to restore WindWheels to its original glory, and give it a new and permanent home here at the airport,” said David S. Mackey, Massport’s Interim CEO & Executive Director. “Acquiring Mr. Wainwright’s work was a significant step in helping us launch a formal arts program at Logan Airport. Further, his kinetic sculpture is located at an important airport entranceway which symbolizes the creative rejuvenation of the entire area.”

Wainwright’s inspiration for his design of WindWheels incorporates the essence of air travel. “The whole construction seems to me appropriate for an airport in that the air makes it work – it’s an obviously mechanical object like an aircraft, Wainwright said. “I hope it will entertain people arriving and departing, visiting and working at Logan Airport.”

Wainwright was born in 1924 in Indianapolis, and was formally trained as an engineer and architect. He also had an artistic side, and a fascination with spheres, which dated back to the 1950s when he was a student at MIT. He co-founded the architectural firm Geometrics, and had the opportunity to work with with futurist Buckminster Fuller to design geodesic domes for military use during the Cold War. Wainwright yearned to combine his mathematical mind with his artistic side and became a full-time sculptor in 1973. Since that time, he has created many large-scale pieces of work located throughout the United States.

For many years the sculpture entertained travelers passing through Logan Airport’s Terminal C. It also spent some time at the Cambridge Hyatt Hotel located on the Charles River before heading back to the airport’s water taxi dock near the Hyatt Boston Logan Airport Hotel in 1993. But in 2010 the sculpture was put into storage to make way for the construction of Logan’s new Consolidated Rental Car Facility.
William Wainwright lives in Cambridge, Mass., with his wife Clara, and shares studio space with his son Dedalus, and five other artists at the Sculpture’s Workshop which he founded to provide young artists access to affordable space.

Boston Logan, 15 minutes from the intersection of Route 128 and I-90 and five minutes from downtown Boston, serves as the gateway to the New England region and offers nonstop service to 72 domestic and 31 international destinations and in 2011 handled 28.9 million passengers. Boston Logan is the Air Line Pilot Association’s Airport of the Year for 2008 because of its commitment to safety. Over the past decade, the airport spent $4.5 billion on a modernization program that includes new terminals, public transportation access, parking facilities, roadways and airport concessions, and has been transformed into a world-class 21st Century facility. The airport generates $7 billion in total economic impact each year.
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The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) owns and operates Boston Logan International Airport, public terminals in the Port of Boston, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport. Massport is a financially self-sustaining public authority whose premier transportation facilities generate more than $8 billion annually, and enhance and enable economic growth and vitality in New England. No state tax dollars are used to fund operations or capital improvements at Massport facilities.

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