HomeArtArt Galleries › Scottsdale Public Art kicks off the 2015 Canal Convergence
 
 
 

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Thursday, February 26th marked the kick off of the 2015 Canal Convergence from Scottsdale Public Art. The Scottsdale Waterfront came alive tonight with art, music and light along the banks of the Arizona Canal between Soleri and Marshall Way bridges.

There were a fascinating variety of interactive art installations, local musicians performing, as well as a wonderful artisan market. This years line up of artists participating in the Canal Convergence include My Your Our Water by Erin V. SotakThe Pool by Jen LewinThe Artwork Forge by Toby Fraley, ...the Garden Grows: BioMe by Karrie HoveyMigration by Saskia JordaAutumn/Spring Pavillion: Desert Series by Joy Holland and The Office of Environmental Responsibility - To-go Lid Division by Mimi Jardine. 

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The Pool is a truly engaging and fun responsive sculpture, created by artist Jen Lewin featuring 106 intuitive pads that respond to pressure and speed as you run, jump and play within the artwork. “Inspired by tide pools in Australia, the artist sought to recreate the effect of engaging with water by programming each pad to react to human movement with ripples of dynamic color and luminosity.” 

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Eric V. Sotak is the current artist in resident with SRP and Scottsdale Public Art, “traversed the canal bike paths on her tricycle as part if a social investigation of humans and our relationship to water”. In the canal were the words “MY YOUR OUR” which glowed in the dark water. Also her findings along with images from contributors were projected onto a screen set adjacent to the words over looking the canal.

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Pinwheel flowers are placed alongside the canals as well as large gorgeous flowers spread through in the water created by Karrie Hovey titled…the Garden Grows BioMe. This installation “explores human intervention within the natural environment by recreating desert plants out of industrial materials” such as High Density Polyurethane Plastic (used in consumer goods like milk jugs, bottle caps, plastic bags, etc.)

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Decorating the Soleri and Marshall bridges are whimsical birds created by Saskia Jorda titled “Migration” referring to the idea of birds flying south for winter and the people which come to Arizona for the Sonoran Desert. This incredible installation has activate multiple areas along the Scottsdale waterfront, offering a “playful, toy-like bird silhouettes remind us of adventure, restlessness, nomadic experimentation, and the freedom of exploring new places.”

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The Art Forge created by Toby Fraley examines the question “Could this machines put artists out of a job?” which Fraley has developed utilizing a complex algorithm purporting to create a technically “perfect” 4 x 6 piece of artwork in just 5 minutes. So how does it work well the machine “simulates the experience of commissioning an original artwork by compiling data from your personal preferences, social media, news trends and celebrated masterworks of art.”

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Autumn/Spring Pavillion: Desert Series allows patrons to create there own seating arrangement when they move around red and blue cubes that become a work of art in themselves and were previously on view at last year’s canal convergence.

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Lastly “The Office of Environmental Responsibility-To-go Lid Division created by Mimi Jardine, a faux-governmental regulatory agency to reward citizens for engaging in light-weight environmental clean-up. Here at the To-Go Lid Division, the artist carefully logs the details of each lid and then adds them to her collection, to be stored for future use in sculptural installations. “This painstaking documentation process encourages us to consider how each discarded lid has its own unique impact on our environment.”

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Also we explored the Artisan Market where we came across many wonderful local artisans offering an eclectic array of goods including, dolls, soaps, jewelry, artwork and so much more. Be sure check out the Artisan Market AZ that offer a great selection of goods and features a variety of local artists and vendors.

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Spend your weekend down at the Scottsdale Waterfront exploring the Canal Convergence. The weekend offers fun events that highlight artworks, hands-on activities, live music, and performances. For complete details of all the amazing activities and performances schedule of the celebration visit Canal Convergence Schedule. Located at the Scottsdale Waterfront 4420 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, the Canal Convergence kicks off on runs through March 1st.