Important Notice
For the latest on flights and Hurricane Irma, please check with your airline. We also encourage you to follow us on Twitter for updates.
Connecting Communities Wall
Arrivals Level, 1st Floor, near Door 11
From Wings to Cities: The vision of Glenn Curtiss
In collaboration with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau
On view through April 1, 2026
The mural honors pioneering aviator and visionary developer Glenn Curtiss, whose ideas helped shape South Florida during the land boom of the 1920s. Long before Miami became a global gateway, Curtiss imagined communities built around innovation, mobility and modern living—where aviation would redefine how people connected to place and to one another.
Working with fellow pioneers, Curtiss played a defining role in founding Hialeah, Opa-locka and Miami Springs—three distinctive Miami-Dade County cities currently celebrating their centennials. Each reflects a different expression of his ambition and belief in planned communities designed for the future.
Hialeah, envisioned as “The City of Progress,” has grown into a dynamic center of industry and culture, shaped in large part by its immigrant community. Opa-locka captured the imagination through its Moorish Revival style and Arabian Nights–inspired identity, making it one of the most distinctively planned cities in the nation. Miami Springs emerged as a carefully designed residential oasis, known for its Pueblo Revival architecture and human-scale charm.
Curtiss’s legacy extends beyond aviation records and engineering breakthroughs. His vision linked flight, infrastructure and city-building—laying the groundwork for a region that would become a crossroads of the Americas.
This mural connects past and present. As travelers arrive and depart, they stand within a living legacy of innovation—where one man’s vision took flight and helped build three cities that continue to define Miami-Dade County a century later.
This exhibition is presented in partnership with local cultural organizations committed to enriching our community through arts and culture. “From Wings to Cities: The Vision of Glenn Curtiss” coincides with the “Master of the Air, Builder of Dreams: Glenn Curtiss in South Florida” exhibition at our Mezzanine Gallery (J International Arrivals, 4th Floor) which is on view from March 25 – August 31, 2026.
