The additions of “Shadow Play” from the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture and the giant planters from the Street Transportation Department along Roosevelt Street this summer have stirred controversy and divided community members. They’re not the first pieces to have created splashes (good or bad) downtown, though. Public art and installations have been a focus of city government since the inception of the Public Art Program in 1986. We went back in time to look at a few of the 170 completed projects that are located in downtown Phoenix, from “Her Secret Is Patience” over Civic Space Park to the “Curiouser and Curiouser” telescope within the Arizona Science Center.
