Street Art In Tempe, Arizona: Irrigation Standpipe With Bike Sculpture And A Mosaic Editorial Image

In May 2005 residents in the Tempe, Maple Ash Neighborhood, started doing something about unsightly irrigation standpipes. They turned the standpipes into pieces of art. Instead of allowing the irrigation standpipes to be covered with graffiti and surrounded by trash, which usually happens, residents have spent more than 1,000 hours turning a corner of their neighborhood and one 7-foot-tall standpipe into a public art project.The southeast corner of 13th Street and Ash Avenue has been a popular spot since September as 50 residents worked with artists Nina Solomon and Chris Rowley and landscape architect Ruben Valenzuela. The project was made possible through a $12,000 Tempe Neighborhood Grant, said Jenny Lucier, who led the project with resident Julia Andrews.It’s the second time Maple Ash residents have beautified a neighborhood irrigation standpipe, and it won’t be the last Future works of art are planned for other irrigation standpipes in the neighborhood. (from: East Valley.com)