Scottsdale Public Art Pairs Professional Artists With University Students For New Public Artwork

A new public artwork has joined the Scottsdale Public Art Permanent Collection at a Scottsdale Water building in north Scottsdale.

"Cholla Reflections" is a collaboration between Keep Scottsdale Beautiful and Scottsdale Public Art. The newest public artwork is located at the northern intersection of Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard and Greenway-Hayden Loop (north Hayden Road).

"One of Keep Scottsdale Beautiful's (KSB) pillars is to beautify public places," said Chris Irish, board member of Keep Scottsdale Beautiful. "We identified this high-traffic intersection as an area that would benefit from a community project."

Typically, the public art projects are developed in conjunction with a city of Scottsdale capital improvement project, but this project was not directly attached to a city plan.

"This project included multiple artists, agencies, contractors and stakeholders and required a lot of coordination and many approvals," said Tanya Galin, public art manager for Scottsdale Public Art. "Even though it was a challenge to manage, it was worth it; a once barren area is now filled with beautiful and inspiring public art."

According to Irish, KSB wanted to include an educational component to the project, so Scottsdale Public Art paired public artists Kelly O'Brien and Patrick Renner of Houston's Flying Carpet Creative Studio with university students Jessica Arnold, Rigoberto Berber-Arias and Alan Estrada Sanchez. The students had a wide range of tasks to complete this project from working with Arizona State University's architecture department to presenting to the Scottsdale Public Art Board for approval.

"Design ideas were collaborated with the public artist after imagery of cholla cactus skeleton presentations I created, and the muralist took my intention for the design and made it her own," said student artist Jessica Arnold. "It's really incredible to see our years of hard work and creative design ideas come to life."

Flying Carpet Creative Studio produced five earth-cast concrete monolith sculptures for the site and collaborated with the student team to create artistic metal elements on the bridge, sandblasted elements on the sidewalk path and hand-cast pavers. Part of the collaboration with the student team also included "Cholla Canal Water Resources Mural" by Kyllan Manney on the Scottsdale Water Facilities building.

"It was an incredible learning experience for the students," Irish said. "Their work alongside the artists will have a significant impact on Scottsdale residents and visitors for generations to come."

Partners for "Cholla Reflections" include U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Central Arizona Project and the city of Scottsdale. The partnering organizations would like to thank the following donors: Pancho Concrete Pumping, Rock Solid Concrete, Salt River Materials Group, Scottsdale Concrete, Strategic Materials and Waste Management.

Officials from the city of Scottsdale and Scottsdale Public Art will dedicate the new "Cholla Reflections" at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at 16821 N Greenway Hayden Loop, Scottsdale, AZ 85255. Parking is available at Curaleaf, 16277 N Greenway Hayden Loop, Scottsdale, AZ 85260. Please park in the covered parking area. Learn more about the dedication event at ScottsdalePublicArt.org/events. To learn more about "Cholla Reflections" and view photos of the artwork, visit ScottsdalePublicArt.org/work/cholla-reflections.