In honor of Denver International Airport’s 25th birthday, the airport put together something it never has before: an exhibit for people not at the airport. 

The online photo exhibit, titled “Colorado from a Distance,” features a selection of 25 photos from Colorado photographers and residents to represent the “new normal” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

DIA spokeswoman Alex Renteria said this project is meant to illustrate and continue the art scene at DIA, despite a decrease in travel that has led to fewer people seeing artwork at the airport. 

Airport officials asked Coloradans in June to share photos that showcase life amid the pandemic. 

“We wanted to do something that we could share with Colorado residents and have them share with us,” Renteria said. “Not a lot of people are traveling right now and we wanted everyone to be able to enjoy this exhibit.”

Renteria said the panel that judged the photos received over 50 entries that ranged in photo topic.

“It is a wide variety,”  Renteria said. “Anything from a child experiencing their first grocery store visit with a mask on to a woman visiting her mom through a window outside of a nursing home,”

She added that this project, along with others, is one of the ways that DIA is dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We wanted this year to continue as our big 25th birthday celebration and all the milestones that came with that, and then COVID hit,” Renteria said. “So we are trying to find new ways to celebrate …in ways that make more sense with our current environment.” 

Along with increasing safety protocols within the airport, Renteria said DIA officials want people to feel that even though they are not at the airport that DIA is still their home, and this photo exhibit is one of the ways they are doing that.

“We wanted to transcend that thought of keeping the airport a safe place and keeping the airport your home into ‘how can we all do this together?’ ” Renteria said.

You can view the full gallery on the DIA YouTube page.