Looking Up From Here
Njaimeh Njie, 2025
The artist created a series of collages for the restroom entry walls on the arrivals level that stage a life on a fictionalized Pittsburgh street. These sidewalk stories represent a diverse array of people that call the region home, while showcasing the topography and infrastructure that makes it unique. The title is a play on air travel, with a nod to looking towards the future, rooting the action in communities.
She was inspired by the work of artists with close ties to Pittsburgh: Romare Bearden’s The Block (1971), and August Wilson’s American Century Cycle of plays. The collages unfold as a sequence, connecting visitors wherever they interact with the artwork on the Arrivals level. Overall, they blur the lines between reality and imagination to bring together past, present, and future visions of what makes Pittsburgh a special place.
Materials: Digital Collage, Glass
Location: Arrivals Level, Pre-security Terminal
Type: Collage
Pittsburgh’s transformed airport is designed to connect with the local and regional community. The Art in the Airport program features 15 artists in 30 campus locations that help to shape a sense of the city.
Photo courtesy of Njaimeh Njie
About the Artist
Njaimeh Njie works across photography, film, installation and public art. Her practice centers everyday people, narratives and landscapes. Focusing particularly on how the past shapes the present, her art consistently engages archival research, oral history collection and nonfiction writing. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) and the Carnegie Museum of Art. Born in Pittsburgh, she is the Founder of the nonfiction storytelling company Eleven Stanley Productions, and earned her B.A in Film and Media Studies from Washington University in St. Louis.
Photo courtesy of Njaimeh Njie
