Artist Jim Green, Who Created "Train Call" at the Denver Airport, Has Departed

Everyone who's ever flown through Denver International Airport knows artist Jim Green's work: Before the airport opened, he received the public-art commission to create "Train Call," both the music and messages on trains running to and from the terminal, including those happy, tiddly sounds as the doors close on another jam-packed car full of travelers.

Green also created sound installations that produced mysterious noises from the sidewalk along Curtis Street in "Sound Walk," as well as a rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" that played from sinks at the Denver Art Museum. But some of his favorite pieces were created for airports, including the talking drinking fountains at the Seattle airport, which won top honors in the 1998 Best of Seattle.

The chimes for "Train Call" were made from plumbing pipes and early synthesizers, with sounds inspired by traditional folk songs like "She'll Be Coming ’Round the Mountain." Initially, Green was also responsible for the welcoming and chiding messages — "YOU are delaying the departure of this train" — made by local celebs Pete Smythe and Reynelda Muse, later replaced by Alan Roach (who had to fight to keep his place), Adele Arakawa and now Kim Christiansen. Ultimately, though, to save time and money, the airport bought the rights to update the messages itself, to keep greetings more current.

And now Green himself has departed. "Jim slipped away from Earth this morning, in the same manner he approached his art; subtly catching us all by surprise through his positive affirmations, greetings, and unexpected sounds that brought joy to passersby," says Kathryn Charles, a friend and colleague who alerted us to his passing.

Green was born in Minneapolis in 1948; he first came to Colorado as a child, visiting his grandmother near Longmont. He returned for a master's degree in sculpture at the University of Colorado Boulder and made Denver his permanent home; he'd frequently gather with other artists in the city's growing scene.

"Jim Green was a keen observer of human nature peculiarity," Charles continues. "His early recordings and research led him to travel the country one summer to document the sounds of amusement parks and state fairs. He amassed a catalogue of recordings of people working in sideshows, their shticks and their stories. Green’s positive spin on a dark world brought a little more humanity to our lives. Green’s message to the world was clear, concise, positive and playful. He reminded us to be present, listen to the world around us, and most of all, not take ourselves too seriously."

He passed away today, September 11.

And the doors are closing...