Surprise has installed 30 new pieces of public art since the Arts and Culture Division was created in 2023 — including the "Bounce" and "Swing" pieces outside Surprise Stadium.
Courtesy city of Surprise
Christine Sherer’s work is on display on a traffic cabinet at Bell and Reems roads.
Most of Surprise’s current public art projects are concentrated in the City Center area. But Arts and Culture Manager Julie Akerly is leading the charge to change that.
With the city’s goal to place public art in every neighborhood, art pieces started to become noticeable across the city in the last year.
Akerly reported to the city council on Sept. 15 that the city has installed 30 new pieces of public art since the Arts and Culture Division was created in 2023 — including 11 last fiscal year.
The “Bounce” and “Swing” installations outside of Surprise Stadium are among the newer ones.
“I’ve been describing this as a massive year of growth,” Akerly told the council.
For example, the city had been working for three years on art projects for the new Surprise Community and Resource Center, which officially opened earlier this month.
“I really got to get it integrated with the architects and the whole building site,” Akerly told the council. “It saved a lot of money on landscaping, routing of electrical and all those little pieces that really start to add up in a public art project.”
Mayor Kevin Sartor told Akerly the need for public art is easily overlooked in some cities.
“But when it’s there, you notice that it’s there, and it brings a community together, getting people engaged,” Sartor said.
More pieces are in the planning stages. Artwork is coming to the Police Substation that is under construction on 163rd Avenue.
Other art projects on the books for the current fiscal year, include a City Center mural, art at Dick McComb Park and work on the Original Townsite Historical Neighborhood Art Project.
More traffic cabinets wraps are on the way to the city this year, this time along 163rd Avenue in north Surprise. The city started the Traffic Cabinet Student Mentorship Program for teens interested in art.
“We paired a local student with a professional artist, so they got to learn about the public art process from applying to talking about your art and modifying your hand-drawn design to something in a digital format,” Akerly said.
The first year of the Surprise Arts division has spruced up its identifying colors and begun branding itself around the city.
Consultants have help the city with its art identity, and the city’s communications team built a website for Surprise Arts to help get the word out.
The department also created a newsletter and got a social media presence in the last year.
In fiscal year, Surprise Arts staged 71 events, including the newly created “Roots of Creation Festival.”
Many of the art projects across the city come with public input, Akerly said.
The public art process starts with picking where a piece should go.
The city’s Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission spends dozens of hours meeting to review art projects that are proposed or commissioned.
“If the artist puts this much time into applying and making something for our community, a panel with the power to make the decision also has to put that same amount of time and consideration back into it,” Akerly said.
The design phase of art projects often requires a building permit, so it goes through several rounds of review.
“These are not things that someone’s making at home in the garage,” Akerly said. “They are getting sent out to fabricators, either locally or in other states, depending on probably where the best deal and quality of work is at the time. And then they get installed.”
Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month at the Surprise Regional Library.
Jason Stone can be reached at jstone@iniusa.org. Submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Meet Jason Jason Stone joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2019, after a distinguished three decade media career that included stops at the Arizona Republic, iHeart Media/Clear Channel and Beckett Sports Card magazine. He remembers when airports sold newspapers.
Community: He is a big supporter of the Valley's original sports team: The Phoenix Suns.
Education: Northern Arizona University with a BS in broadcast journalism and a minor in sports coaching.
Random Fact: The capital of Nebraska is Lincoln.
Hobbies: Surfing, backgammon and men who aren't afraid to cry.
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