Public art enlivens the landscape of any city, adding beauty, playfulness and inspiration to our everyday surroundings.
Phoenix is no exception. From mural walls painted by independent local artists to work by world-famous artists, the desert city is a creative oasis.
While spring is still in full bloom, and before those triple-digit summer temperatures hit, here are seven of the city’s most iconic outdoor public artworks — and the fascinating stories behind them – to brighten your day.
Whether packing a picnic and visiting these creations, or noticing a hidden artful gem on your commute, art around our city elevates the ordinary.
Shepard Fairey, “Interdependent Nature” mural
Mesa Arts Center
The paint has recently dried on legendary artist Shepard Fairey’s mural “Interdependent Nature,” which went up at Mesa Arts Center in April. Fairey got his start as a street artist from the skateboarding scene of the 1980s and ’90s, designing the iconic Obey Giant, and reaching international acclaim with his Barack Obama “Hope” image. Fairey’s Mesa Arts Center mural is full of his signature bold colors, depicting desert plants and wildlife. Reminding us of the interconnected relationship between humans and nature, Fairey says of the mural, “Peace, health and justice require an understanding that we are all connected parts of a whole.”
Robert Indiana’s “LOVE” sculpture
Scottsdale Public Art
This pop art sculpture, with its simple message of “LOVE,” has become a world-famous image. Yet, it has a complex history. Conceived by artist Robert Indiana at the height of the Vietnam War in the 1960’s, “LOVE” became a radical message of peace for a country at war. As a U.S. Army Veteran, queer man and giant of the pop art movement, Indiana’s “LOVE” is layered with othered identity and longing. Since its conception, “LOVE” has been released in many incarnations, and made into sculptures around the world, including New York City, Hong Kong, London, Berlin, San Francisco and Phoenix.
Antoinette Cauley’s James Baldwin mural
Ten-O-One Building
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” reads the text around a 100-foot-tall portrait of author James Baldwin, adorning the side of the Ten-O-One building in Downtown Phoenix. Created by local artist Antoinette Cauley in 2020, this evocative, painterly portrait of Baldwin, is a testament to social progress and creative thinkers ahead of their time. As America still struggles with racism and prejudice, Baldwin’s work and life as a queer Black man, and Cauley’s bold celebration of identity, are a beautiful reminder of strength and resilience rising from Phoenix’s city skyline.
“Maternal Love” Sculpture
Hance Park
A giant gold metallic Panda cradles her cub, reflecting the foliage around her in Hance Park, in Downtown Phoenix. Now a beautiful green space with desert flora and shady lawns, Hance Park opened in 1992 to controversy. Over the next decade, the city made efforts to bring in more arts and culture to entice desert residents to enjoy the park. As part of this initiative, “Maternal Love,” a tender, whimsical and glowing gold Panda statue was gifted to the city of Phoenix through our Sister City program with Chengdu, China. Symbolizing international friendship and diversity, other nearby Sister City sites include the Japanese Friendship Garden Ro Ho En with Himeji, Japan, and Irish Cultural Center with Ennis, Ireland.
Frank Lloyd Wright Spire
Scottsdale Road and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard
A 125-foot-tall steel spire lit up by LED lights from inside illuminates the desert landscape with turquoise and copper hues, like an alien art deco monument. Indeed, this spire is the fantasy design of renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Deemed “too modern” by Phoenix City officials in Wright’s lifetime, the spire was constructed in 2004 with the collaboration of Arnold Roy, one of Wright’s original apprentices and protégés. Frank Lloyd Wright’s impact on the desert landscape stretches beyond this eerie and gorgeous spire, with his home and desert laboratory, World Heritage Site Taliesin West located in the nearby foothills of the McDowell Mountains.
Janet Echelman’s “Her Secret Is Patience”
Civic Space Park
This 145-foot-tall aerial sculpture floats over Downtown Phoenix’s two-city-block Civic Space Park. Illuminated at night with changing colors through the seasons, adding cool hues in summer and warm tones in winter, the sculpture draws our eyes to the sky and reflects the desert weather. Artist Janet Echelman worked with an internationally acclaimed team of aeronautical and mechanical engineers to create an artwork both fluid and fixed. Echelman was inspired by cloud shadows, desert winds, celestial objects and a quote from American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.”
Sui Jianguo’s “Jurassic Age”
Phoenix Art Museum
A rich red cage stands on the green lawn outside of the Phoenix Art Museum, an equally bright red dinosaur roaring inside it. Sui Jianguo’s sculpture “Jurassic Age,” evokes eye-grabbing pop art with its large scale and bold color. Yet with the words “Made In China” etched into the captive dinosaur’s chest, this is also a work which questions globalization, capitalism and extinction. Fittingly, Arizona boasts an astounding prehistoric history. Going back at least 245 million years to the Triassic Period, the desert was home to more than 15 different species of dinosaurs.
