A highly anticipated art installation at Fresno Yosemite International Airport is well over a year behind its original schedule, and it will likely be months before the four-story mosaic mural is installed on the airport’s parking garage.
Fresno artist Caleb Duarte, a noted artist and sculptor who teaches at Fresno City College and taught art and exhibited his work worldwide, was selected in October 2022 from among 17 artists who submitted proposals.
Duarte’s concept, a mixed-media mosaic entitled “You Have Arrived,” was unveiled to the Fresno City Council in March 2023 with the expectation that the artwork would go up later in the spring of 2023.
But more than a year and a half after the concept was revealed, the drab white wall of the elevator shaft continues to stare blankly across the airport’s main driveway toward the passenger terminal.
Airport spokesperson Vikkie Calderon told The Fresno Bee that unforeseen delays have been the result of preparation work that needs to be done for the elevator wall to accommodate Duarte’s tile mosaic concept, and it also has to be coordinated with Duarte’s schedule.