Windows to the West

Photos by Lisa E White

Vintage Photo - 1981 Coronado High Mat Maids

Royal Tide V, Phoenix Art Museum

After winning a grant from the NEA in 1971, Scottsdale Fine Arts Commission selected Louise Nevelson, one of America's leading modernist sculptors, to create a work of public art that acts as an entry to the Civic Center mall from the East.  Nestled between City Hall and the Civic Center Library, it provides a backdrop to concerts sometimes held at the bottom of the grassy slope where the stage is set over the fountain.  Nevelson is known for her large geometric sculptures sometimes described as a puzzle or simply as boxes as seen in Royal Tide V, a monochromatic golden artwork found at Phoenix Art Museum.  Influenced by cubism, she created many sculptures in the 1950's from found objects, and called herself the first "recycler."  Windows to the West was made of cor-ten steel designed to patina over time.  However, it began to deteriorate, and was renovated and reinstalled in 2004, this time outside of the fountain.  In 1981, my group of Coronado Mat Maids (wrestling cheerleaders) filled the boxes with color.  Those girls are now probably Scottsdale grandmothers!!!