Historic Miracle Mile Public Art Lighting Ceremony

The public is invited to attend a lighting ceremony on Monday, April 5, 2010, from 6:15 p.m. until 7 p.m., for the Gateway Saguaro, a new public art piece located in the Oracle Road median, just north of Drachman Street. The Gateway Saguaro is a 30-foot-tall sculpture in the shape of a saguaro cactus, illuminated in neon lights. For motorists traveling northbound on Miracle Mile, the structure pays homage to the history of the roadway, and for motorists traveling southbound on Miracle Mile it welcomes all to Tucson. The lighting ceremony will take place at College Place, 1601 North Oracle Road.

The sculpture is the public art component of the Oracle Road/Main Avenue/Drachman Street intersection improvement project completed in late 2007 by the City of Tucson Department of Transportation (TDOT).

Dirk J. Arnold, the Tucson artist chosen through the Tucson Pima Arts Council’s competitive process, said “My work was inspired by the original Miracle Mile’s mid-twentieth century heyday with its neon signs, motor courts, and restaurants lining the primary motor route into and out of Tucson.”

The public art selection and installation was a collaborative effort between Ward 3 Council Member Karin Uhlich, the Tucson Pima Arts Council (TPAC), the City’s Oracle Area Revitalization Plan (OARP) project, and TDOT.

Charlie Wachtel, local resident and Chairman of the OARP Citizen Steering Committee (CSC), notes that the committee had regular updates from TPAC during the art selection process and is very excited that the artwork honors the special character and history of the area. The OARP, initiated by Ward III and coordinated by the City of Tucson, has brought local neighborhoods, businesses, and institutions together to determine goals and strategies for the future of the historic Miracle Mile corridor.

Scott Polston, local business owner and President of the area’s Gateway Business Alliance, an offshoot of the OARP project, said “Alliance members see the work as reaffirmation of the importance of this area not only in Tucson’s past, but in its future.”

The Gateway Saguaro public art sculpture was fabricated by Cook and Company Signmakers, a local business, and was installed in time for the third annual Historic Miracle Mile Festival, which will take place on Saturday, April 24, 2010, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The event will not only include an opportunity to learn more about the area’s history through presentations and tours of selected sites, but will also feature a street fair with live music, local artists, and vendors. For more details about the festival, call the Gateway Business Alliance at 520-762-6900, or go to the web page at http://www.celebratehistorictucson.com. For more information about the Gateway Saguaro or Dirk Arnold’s other artwork, visit http://www.endangeredarchitecture.com.