see18 Film Screening Room provides an updated glimpse of Minnesota

Employees and travelers alike can get a refreshed glimpse of Minnesota and U.S. culture by visiting the see18 Film Screening Room between Gates C18 and C19 at MSP Airport's Terminal 1.

Twenty-one new videos – most just a few minutes long – were recently added to the screening room that bills itself as "the first state-of-the-art cinema in any major U.S. airport."

The videos range from a discussion of Ojibwe and Dakota beadwork to the little-known history of the Japanese language camp at nearby Fort Snelling during WWII, to a "tiny concert" by a Minnesota Orchestra violinist to a closer look at Hmong fashion.

The theme of season 9 at see18 is "Someone That Looks Like Me: Exploring Identity and Place Through Minnesota Arts and Culture."

"The nearly four hours of video was curated into four sub-topics as a way to create a sense of Minnesota identity and place," said Noah Keesecker, who works in the Arts & Culture Department with the Airport Foundation MSP. "The four sub-topics begin with an overview of Minnesota land and history, then shifts to a diversity of cultures and culinary arts, before moving on to individual artist profiles. The series ends with several inspiring stories of resilience and healing."

Many of the videos were produced by TPT, the local PBS affiliate based in the Twin Cities. But some of the videos have a more national scope from the TED Talk collection on YouTube.

The videos run continuously 24 hours a day at the see18 Screening Room. And they also can be viewed online from the Airport Foundation MSP website, which manages the award-winning arts program at MSP jointly with the Metropolitan Airports Commission.

See18 was built in 2013 and is named for Gate C18. The physical space was remodeled in 2020 to provide more comfortable seating and improved video screen technology. All of the films are close-captioned and the space also uses telecoil/Assisted Listening System to provide for greater accessibility.