Albany International Airport is honoring Natalie Gillis’ remarkable life most beautifully.

Her stunning photos and brilliant poems are on display indefinitely at Million Air Terminal.

Kathy Greenwood, the airport’s Director of Exhibitions and Programs, was tasked with putting it together.
“It’s meant to impart joy. I think it’s something people will come away from feeling really grateful,” she said.

Gillis’ mother, Mary Yap, gave Greenwood a copy of Gillis’ book of poems and photographs. The book was titled, “This is where Atlantis sank.” That book included stunning photographs of Ellesmere Island glaciers in Canada, polar bears in the North Pole, and whales splashing the icy cold waters in the South Pole.

“I looked through the book, looked through the poems. I made a lot of notes,” Greenwood said. “I finally came up with just a selection of just a few that I thought would be especially meaningful to people coming through Million Air.”

Million Air terminal at Albany International Airport was the last place Gillis was at before taking off on June 17. Her plane crashed minutes later, just a few miles away in a field in Colonie, near Albany Shaker Road.

Gillis was headed back home to Canada.

Her well-written poems are on the walls, next to her photography.

Greenwood hopes the poems and photographs will be a wonderful surprise for people who come through Million Air.

“What I can observe just from this brief experience is that she packed more into 34 years than most of us do in a much longer lifetime. It’s humbling and inspirational for me, and I think it will be too for the people who pass through and have the opportunity to see these photographs and read her poems.”

Gillis’ mother, Mary, and her two best friends, Mimi and Mollie, both flew from Canada to Albany this week to see the memorial. Mary also got to meet and thank the airport firefighters who responded to the plane crash.

“It was a real honor. It was a sad and difficult day, but I think we were here to gather in memory of Natalie and pay tribute to her life, her intrepid sense of exploration, and her generous spirit. I was honored to be a part of that,” Greenwood said.