Air-Minded: Boneyard Project Photoblog

I was looking at an old photo album on Flickr this morning, and it hit me I may have one of the most complete photo archives of the Boneyard Project, an art exhibit hosted by Pima Air and Space Museum from February through May 2012. I was a docent at PASM at the time, and posted two teasers about the exhibit to Paul’s Thing, here and here.

The Boneyard Project, which you can read about here, was an exhibit of aircraft and aircraft parts painted by American and international artists. The aircraft were displayed outdoors, while the “nose art,” the painted aircraft parts, were exhibited inside. The nose art pieces, I believe, were shown in New York City and Phoenix art galleries before coming to PASM. The outdoor aircraft, to my knowledge, were only displayed at PASM.

Strangely, when the exhibit at PASM ended no one came to collect the planes and pieces. The art planes are still on outdoor display there, some near the main entrance on Valencia Road to attract passing traffic, some in a seldom-visited back lot. Sun and weather have taken their toll, and they no longer appear as fresh as they did in 2012, when I first photographed them. The indoor exhibits — the painted nose cones, prop spinners, fuel tanks, and radomes — are as far as I know stored in a shed in the restoration area, no longer accessible to the public.

The photos in this post are mine, as are all 49 photos in my Boneyard Project Flickr album. At least two of them are of X-rated displays (or so PASM deemed them at the time). Intrigued? Please visit and enjoy!

Oh, in case you hadn’t heard, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the temporary closure of PASM and other museums in Arizona, so if you want to see more, my Flickr album may be your best bet!

— back to the Air-Minded Index