In 2001, Arts in the Airport received funding from the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission to administer a public design competition for six large-scale banners to be hung above the ticketing counters. The banners are six feet wide and 19 feet long and were designed by the competition winner Susanna R. Haynes. The competition appealed to graphic designers, architects and artists to submit proposals for the space, which resulted in varied solutions to the interesting design problem.

Haynes' design energizes the airport space with lively colors and black and white accents, while harmonizing with the terminal and existing installations. The zesty imagery is uniquely Nashville and yet emphasizes the city's worldliness by unmistakable comparison to images from around the globe. The banners pair American country music with Europe's classical, catfish with sushi, and the iris, Tennessee's state flower, with tulips of the Netherlands.

Architectural references include the BellSouth building, a distinctive part of the Nashville skyline, in comparison with minaret towers like those of Istanbul's Blue Mosque. The spire of Gaylord Entertainment Center is noticeably similar to the Eiffel Tower. And of course, the Nashville Parthenon unmistakably parallels that ancient building of Athens, Greece.

Haynes, a native of Murfreesboro, TN, designed the banners while attending Middle Tennessee State University. She graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in graphic and multi-media design. She currently resides in Shelbyville, TN.