Can't make the Louvre this summer? Take a quick trip to DIA!

Caleb Williams | July 23, 2014 | 9:01am

When people travel through Denver International Airport, they're rarely thinking about the art there. Typically, a travelers are more concerned with cramming McDonald's hash browns into their kids' mouths and getting to the gate without a mental breakdown than they are with marveling at the artwork in the terminal. But DIA boasts a lot more than Dunkin' Donuts and Mayor Michael Hancock greeting you over the train intercom (that, by the way, is considered art, too). And so last week we joined the DIA Art and Culture Program on a walking tour of the art at DIA.(All photos by Caleb Williams, art most certainly not by Caleb Williams)

"Time and Space," by Vance Kirkland

"We're fortunate enough to work in a facility that is not only about getting people from point A to point B as efficiently as possible, but also to stress an aesthetic contribution to it," said Mandy Renaud, public art coordinator for DIA and one of the guides for the tour. "Everything has become so homogenized, so I think we have one of the more unique settings, especially as far as airports go."

Both Renaud and Tim Vacca, exhibitions coordinator for DIA, want to encourage a wider awareness of arts culture at the airport, especially with the construction of a new hotel and light-railtransit route, anticipated for completion in 2016.

"Once the hotel opens, there will be a greater desire to see that sort of thing," said Vacca. "People may not want to spend all their time at a coffee shop or a restaurant; maybe they want to take a walk and get an education about some of the art."

Here are some of the pieces you can see around DIA: