Winging It: GE Aerospace Groups with CVG and ArtWorks to Create Enjoyable, Funky Mural

Traveling by Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) simply obtained a bit extra fulfilling. 

A brand new mural unveiled at CVG coincides with this yr’s community-wide ArtsWave marketing campaign as “a visual celebration of the many hands, roles, and experiences that bring air travel to life,” says Kim Best, who manages group relations on the airport. The mural was commissioned by GE Aerospace and CVG, and created in partnership with ArtWorks, an award-winning native nonprofit which creates public artwork that bolsters the area’s inventive repute. 

 

 

Aptly named “Making Connections,” the mural is positioned in the principle terminal on the Welcome Point: one degree under the bottom ground, the place the underground transportation tunnel connects to Concourses A and B, and households and associates can watch for and greet vacationers. Best notes that in a location as sprawling as CVG, it was vital for the mural to reside in an space that was open to the general public. “We’ve put it where people can interact with it without having to go through the security checkpoint,” she says. “Once we identified this area, it was a no-brainer.”

“Art brings people together and makes our workplaces more inviting. Art tells stories,” says Mike Kauffman, head of know-how and operations in industrial transformation at GE Aerospace and the chief champion for the corporate’s 2026 ArtsWave fundraising marketing campaign. “This mural highlights the importance of aviation in our region — how our industry collaborates through innovation — and it celebrates the people who make air travel possible.”

The mural is split into 4 sections made up of three panels. Each part depicts a unique theme of what air journey is all about — plane, engines, airports, and passengers — and flows seamlessly from panel to panel. Splashed with brilliant major colours and painted in a lighthearted type, the mural depicts what makes all of it potential — the engineers and technicians who work on jet engines, baggage handlers and floor crews who help operations, pilots and flight attendants who take the aircraft skywards, and naturally the passengers who’re supported alongside the best way. 

While the themes are grounded in actuality, the mural places a artistic lens on air journey and what it means to fly. It even offers Cincinnati’s unofficial mascot a cameo look with a flying pig (or two). 

 

 

“You can see the flying pigs alongside the plane — naturally,” says Best. “Keeping it lighthearted works with all ages. We’re creating the entire ecosystem of the airport, so we wanted to make sure it’s engaging for anyone traveling through CVG.” 

ArtWorks has a well-established course of for such tasks. After initially being contacted by Best and Deb Silverman, director of philanthropy for GE Aerospace and the GE Aerospace Foundation, ArtWorks proposed Maria Nacu, an artist and illustrator who attended Northern Kentucky University, to conceive the mural and head up the mission. Silverman and Best preferred the daring colours and storytelling captured in Nacu’s portfolio.   

Once they’d settled on the design, Nacu handed issues over to a few fellow “teaching artists” and 16 pupil apprentices from native colleges, who mapped out and painted the 12 panels over the summer time on the ArtWorks studio in Walnut Hills. It took about six weeks to finish. 

“From designing the mural on an iPad to seeing the final installation at scale is overwhelming — in a good way!” says Nacu. “I traveled a lot last year, so I lucked out on the research portion of the process. Most of the inspiration comes from what I observed in the airport.” 

Nacu referred to as it “a fun challenge” to attach 4 narratives throughout a modular mural. “Finding a balance between GE Aerospace’s credibility and the whimsical style was another highlight of the process,” she provides. “It’s rewarding to see all of the hard work the team put in. To see it brought to life is something special.”

“Making Connections” was put in in December and can grace the partitions of the Welcome Point till the top of the yr. For each CVG and GE Aerospace, it strikes a be aware of pleasure within the area’s place in aviation historical past, actually making the connection between the engine makers and the end-users, whether or not they be passengers or pilots. 

“We’re proud to celebrate this mural as a symbol of what strong partnerships can accomplish,” says Larry Krauter, CEO of CVG. “Our collaboration with GE Aerospace reflects a shared commitment to innovation, growth, and the long-term success of our region. This partnership with ArtsWorks highlights the importance of investing in the arts as a vital part of our community’s identity and vibrancy.”

As it occurs, GE Aerospace can also be dwelling to a number of ArtWorks tasks, together with “Reaching New Heights,” commissioned as a part of a earlier ArtsWave marketing campaign, and “The Flight Home,” a mural created for the Customer Experience workforce that was unveiled of their places of work in January.