Diana Goldberg and Julie Cohn in front of Luminaria, at Love Field. All photos by Jerome Weeks.

Yesterday, the Love Field Art Program — the Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs project that’s seeing $3.5 million worth of permanent public art installed at the city airport — bedazzled Love Field’s pedestrian entrance with two new metal sculptures, one by the pair Diana Goldberg and Julia Cohn (above), the other by longtime Dallas artist Tom Orr (below). Goldberg and Cohn’s work flanks the entrance with a row of six, giant luminarias, complete with interior lights (in this case, fluorescent tubes amber-tinted to resemble candlelight). The 10-foot-tall, stainless-steel cylinders have also been laser-cut with different diagrams suggesting circuitry, weather patterns and the hub-and-spoke flight paths of airports. Goldberg pointed out that the work, called Luminaria, was designed with the drive-by-and-drop-off traffic in front of the airport in mind. It will be particularly effective at night, with visitors seeing a scattering of golden stars flickering as they pass by.

In contrast, Intersected Passage by Tom Orr, provides a geometric bridge over pedestrians as they walk into the airport via the parking garage tunnel. Orr, who grew up in Dallas, was inspired by Love Field’s original entrance sign, designed by Tie Davis in 1958 (and restored for the airport’s current makeover). Orr recalled flying out of Dallas to attend the Rhode Island School of Design and thinking, well, at least the place has a hip sign. The 17-foot-tall Intersected Passage elaborates on the retro, mid-century modern abstraction of Davis’ design with powder-coated aluminum squares and rectangles, piled up and interlocked.

The Love Field Art Program will continue to unveil new artworks through October 2014, ultimately showcasing 11 new commissions and four restored original works.

Sculptor Tom Orr at Love Field with Intersected Passage.