The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Work of local artists streaming at Hartsfield-Jackson airport

- By Nedra Rhone

Anyone arriving to Hartsfield-Jackson Internatio­nal airport can find a bit of calm with a new art installati­on from Loupe, an online art streaming app founded by Atlanta-based music producer Dot Bustelo.

Bustelo’s diverse background has included creating music interludes for television shows such as “CSI,” “the Shahs of Sunset” and “One Life to Live,” before she transferre­d her technology know-how to art.

The three displays at Hartsfield-Jackson are located in the internatio­nal terminal near customs and in the atrium and each offers a virtual art gallery to travelers arriving in the city.

The curated installati­on, which is on display through August, features the work of two dozen Atlanta natives including Alea Hurst, an oil painter with who graduated from SCAD Atlanta whose work has been featured by the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and on the bottle labels of Collective Arts Brewing in Ontario, Canada.

DL Warfield is a mixed media pop artist, owner of creative company GOLDFINGER and previous art director for LaFace Records and Jaeyoun Shin is an illustrato­r and painter currently featured in The Atlas Restaurant at St Regis Hotel in Buckhead.

Bustelo first came up with the idea for Loupe while spending long hours in the studio. She worked for many years at Apple traveling around the country and introducin­g Apple’s music software to recording artists, D Js and producers.

“I was looking for something to sustain the creative energy in the room when you are working on music for hours. I would turn on old movies or old science fiction films without the sound, just to have the cool beautiful visuals,” she said.

It made sense to apply the technology of music streaming to visuals, she said. Not only were musicians looking for that sort of stimulatio­n during studio hours (several Atlanta-area recording studios use Loupe) but millions of people stream music into their homes.

People may not buy music the way they once did, but they are still buying art for their walls.

Loupe users who stream art on their television­s also experience what the art would look like in their homes, Bustelo said. If they see an image they love, they are able to purchase prints through the website or Apple TV.

The installati­on at Hartsfield-Jackson was the first of its kind for the company, and while it was too challengin­g to integrate the option to buy into the airport displays, all of the art being streamed is available for purchase through the website ( currently at 20 percent off ).

Bustelo hopes the installati­on gives travelers through Atlanta something to help ease the stress of travel as the images fade from one into the other.

“It’s not like just seeing a piece of art on the wall in the airport…the movement of it is part of the experience of enjoying it. It is the opportunit­y to have something that is contributi­ng a sense of tranquilit­y and inspiratio­n and enjoyment,” Bustelo said.

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