The gray metal boxes that run the traffic signals on 163rd Avenue are about to become the city's newest art gallery.
Surprise has commissioned artwork for eight signal cabinets along the road, from Country Club in the south to Jomax Road in the north. The designs went before the city's Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Surprise Regional Library. The agenda listed the item as a presentation and discussion, with no vote.
The designs in the commission's packet:
"Coyote Howl" by Chroma, at Country Club. The artist describes themself as an Indigenous Mexican graphic artist and muralist whose work is "inspired by my culture and Mother Earth."
"Family Hike" by Steven Luna, at Pat Tillman Boulevard and Pinnacle Peak Road. Luna asked residents on social media and with a flyer at Asante Library what they picture when they think of a happy community.
A design by Elizabeth Nilsen, at Asante. Residents drew family members, favorite toys and personal objects for her; she wrote that the answers showed how closely a sense of home is tied to comfort and memory.
"Presley's Shooting Star" by Anthony "Eli" Farias, at San Ysidro Road. The colors come from a girl named Presley and her family's favorites, with one for each of her siblings.
"Holding Our Hearts" by Maria Madrid Reed, at Happy Valley Road. Reed, who is from Bacadéhuachi, a small town in Sonora, Mexico, gathered ideas at an Asante Library story time. She painted her first mural on her bedroom walls at age 10.
A design by Mallori and Mayven Yazzie, at Smoketree. They wrote that it "shares our cultural identities, which we want to share with the community."
"Connected by the Sun" by Karen Fernanda Hugues, at Desert Oasis. She asked residents at Surprise Regional Library what public art should make people feel and what symbols remind them of Surprise.
"Mountains Calling" by Jyll Ethier-Mullen, at Jomax Road. She surveyed people at a craft class at Asante Library and wrote that most were transplants who shared a love of nature, hiking and wildlife.
Five are to go up first. The cabinets at Smoketree, Desert Oasis and Jomax are to be installed later in 2027.
Students at the drawing board
Two of the cabinets on 163rd Avenue are by students, the city's arts manager, Julie Akerly, told the City Council on Sept. 15.
They come through a mentorship program that pairs a local student with a professional artist to learn how public art gets made: applying, explaining the idea, and turning a hand drawing into a digital file that can be printed and wrapped around a cabinet.
The first student to finish was Sienna, who worked with artist Charith Denson. The city's annual arts report quotes her: "When people ask me what I'm working on, I get to say I'm doing something for the City of Surprise. To say this is something made by a high school student for the community — that's powerful."
An earlier series put work by 19 West Valley artists on cabinets along Bell Road and Cactus Road.
Out of City Center
The cabinets are part of a larger push. The city set up an arts and culture division in 2023, and Akerly said 30 new artworks have been installed since, which she said has more than doubled the city's public art collection.
Before 2023, a map in the report shows, nearly all of it sat in City Center. The stated goal now is "art in every neighborhood."
Work finished in the past year includes:
- "Confluencia," by James Dinh and Mandy Palasik, at the Surprise Community and Resource Center. Akerly said 175 artists applied for the commission and that residents, including teenagers from the Original Townsite, helped choose.
- "Summer Oasis," by Estevan Curiel, at the Oasis Swim Center.
- A mural by Adrian Ramirez at Surprise Regional Library.
- "Expressions in Full Bloom," by Tiesha Harrison, at Asante Library.
Planned for the coming year, besides 163rd Avenue: artwork at the new police substation on 163rd Avenue, a City Center mural, a piece for Dick McComb Park and a neighborhood art project in the Original Townsite.
Beyond the cabinets
The city counted 71 arts events and programs in the fiscal year that ended June 30, and said 93% of them were free.
It also began presenting concerts at the Vista Center for the Arts. Six performances in a trial season drew 3,349 people, and the first full season opened Sept. 26.
On Jan. 24 the city held its first Roots of Creation: Art and Nature Festival at the Surprise Xeriscape Garden in City Center. Akerly described it to the council as unlike a festival of sales booths. "Everything was interactive, everything was handmade," she said, including sculptures students built from recycled materials.
How to take part
- See the designs. All eight are in the packet for the commission's Oct. 7 meeting, posted with the agenda on the city's website. The commission's meetings are open to the public.
- Volunteer. A volunteer program started over the summer has signed up 65 people.
- Join. Memberships run from $60 to $600 a year, with ticket discounts and artist meet-and-greets.
- Find out more. SurpriseArts.com, 623-222-2787 or arts@surpriseaz.gov.