Leah Douglas is the Director of Guest Experience at the Philadelphia International Airport, overseeing the Guest Experience team within the Airport’s Revenue department. Before her current role, Ms. Douglas started her Airport career as the founder of the Exhibitions Program, a visual arts initiative to humanize the Airport environment, provide visibility for Philadelphia’s unique cultural life, and to enrich the experience of the traveling public. Her professional arts expertise and knowledge of Airport trends enabled Douglas to lead the guest experience team. Ms. Douglas is on the art advisory committees of the Schuylkill Environmental Center, Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Alliance for the Watershed Education of the Delaware River, and Art blog.

We'd love to hear how you got started in the arts! Tell us about your background and what initially drew you to want to work in this field.

The high school that I attended (Cumberland Valley HS, Mechanicsburg, PA) had an excellent art program and I decided that I wanted to continue to study art. But I didn’t want to be too far away from home so I concentrated my search for an art school in the Philadelphia area and luckily, it’s a city that has many wonderful art schools to choose from. While in high school, I received a Presidential Scholars Award and as a result, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, offered me a full 4-year scholarship.

The beginning of my career was very serendipitous and if someone told me early on that I’d be involved in arts administration and a curator I would have said “Really? I wonder how?” And then, if they added the part about a curator at an Airport, I’d know they were crazy.

But what is now considered a highly acclaimed exhibitions program at Philadelphia International Airport started just a few years after graduating from Tyler. My husband and I lived in Athens, GA, for a short period of time and we decided to move back to Philadelphia after he finished graduate school. Both of us were young artists, neither of us had jobs—we could have lived anywhere and we chose Philadelphia and we chose to live in the Fairmount section of the city. We responded to the neighborhood and the eclectic mix of the Art Museum, Boat House Row, and East State Penitentiary (at that time the cats were the only residents of the prison). Living near the Art Museum I imagined it must be a great place to work. I applied for an entry-level job in Administrative Services where I mostly recall issuing purchase order numbers and accessing office supplies for the other museum departments. For the year or so that I was there, I was able to experience a little bit of the Museum’s inner workings. After that, I went to work for The University of the Arts as the gallery assistant. This was my first experience working hands-on with contemporary art and my first exposure to planning and implementing an exhibitions program. Shortly after arriving at UArts, the gallery director resigned to take a job in New York and I remained to single-handedly fill in and, with great determination, quick study, and luck, I eventually became the Director of Exhibitions. I worked at UArts for 10 years. While there, I also curated independent exhibitions that featured work by Philadelphia artists in non-gallery locations like private apartments, homes, and commercial venues that were available for rent. Those experiences were the germination of my interest in creating exhibitions in public, non-gallery spaces. And, in 1998, I was hired to start the Exhibitions Program at the Airport.

As the Director of Exhibitions at Philadelphia International Airport, and I still serve in that role today although my title has changed, I am responsible for the implementation of a very unique visual arts program that sites temporary exhibitions throughout the Airport. As the curator, I decide what art to exhibit and I plan the locations for exhibits including designing the cases and gallery walls. There are currently more than 20 exhibition sites at the Airport of which most exhibits change twice a year, so my staff and I are responsible for organizing and presenting approximately 25-30 exhibitions annually.

You have exhibited such a wealth of local talent over the years. What do you look for when you are seeking new artists to work with?

The mission of the program is to present work by Philadelphia area artists and arts institutions and themed exhibitions that pertain to Philadelphia. It makes sense to focus on Philadelphia so the Airport has an identity, a sense of place, based on the wide variety of the city’s cultural offerings. My goal is to capture the vibe of our amazing city from its phenomenal street art, crafts scene, fine arts, to its history.

I try to be broad-minded about the type of art to exhibit and not base my decisions on my own personal preferences. It is my goal to choose artwork and themes that will appeal to a wide variety of audiences from non-museum goers to arts professionals. We have so many exhibition sites that usually there is something on view for everyone. And that is the beauty of how the program is set up, if one exhibit is not of interest to a particular person, the next one that they come upon might engage them more.

Variety is the key to our success both in the type of work that is exhibited and in the number of times the exhibits change throughout the year. Hopefully, there is always something new and different for passengers to experience.

What has it been like to curate in a 'non-traditional' space for displaying art? In what ways is it different that people might not expect?

When presenting exhibitions in an Airport, it is very important to consider traffic flow. With nearly 32 million passengers annually (pre-pandemic), we do not want to impede the ability to move safely and efficiently throughout the facility. It is our goal to enhance the Airport experience so exhibitions are typically placed in locations that have enough space for the artwork and passengers to comfortably coexist. With the sheer number of people and luggage as well as electric carts and cleaning equipment, we need to ensure that the artwork is securely installed as exhibit cases and gallery walls are frequently bumped into. Also, we need to clean the exterior of the exhibition cases on a daily basis in order to wipe away smudges that quickly accumulate.

The Airport also differs from galleries or museums because we are not behind closed doors installing. At the Airport, the cases and gallery walls are painted on location, and the artwork, signage, and lighting are all orchestrated in full view of everyone. If the artist is on hand at the time of installation, many passengers enjoy this special opportunity to talk with them directly.

Tell us about a professional accomplishment or what you most enjoy about your work.

I am very proud of the Airport for initiating this type of program into their overall operation. Art has really become part of the Airport’s culture and it is exciting to be part of that. It is exciting to see art coexist and thrive in such a large, hustling, and bustling facility as the Airport. I am always inspired when I see passengers engaged with an exhibition or a particular artwork because it is something that they didn’t expect to see and in some way they have been touched by it.

I am grateful to have such a unique opportunity to present art to so many people every day--literally, tens of thousands of people from around the world get to see the abundant creativity prevalent within our region.

You started out as the founder of the Exhibitions Program and now serve as the Director of Guest Experience at PHL. What other kinds of work does that involve?

Today, as Director of Guest Experience, I still oversee the exhibitions program in addition to the airport-wide initiative that focuses on the entire airport experience in collaboration with all stakeholders. Guest Experience is a hospitality-centric department that develops programming inclusive of arts and entertainment, special events, airport furnishings and décor, giveaways, airport volunteers, and therapy dog volunteers while working cross-functionally with all stakeholders to continually improve the Airport’s customer service, efficiency, and sense of place.