Introducing Traceries by Mary Neubauer

By Tanya Galin, Public Art Coordinator

Have you seen something new on the canal? We now have eight unique recycle/waste bins lining the Arizona Canal at the Scottsdale Waterfront. Scottsdale Public Art teamed with Scottsdale Solid Waste Services to produce these artist-designed bins to promote recycling and clean-up along the canal in Old Town Scottsdale. Both parties wanted to address the city of Scottsdale’s need for a utilitarian recycle/waste bin while also adding public art features to the canal waterfront.

The waterfront in Old Town Scottsdale, between Goldwater Boulevard and Scottsdale Road, hosts multiple events every year, including Canal Convergence | Water + Art + Light. One of the initiatives that Solid Waste Services and Scottsdale Public Art would like to accomplish is making Canal Convergence a zero-waste event. By adding the permanent bins to the canal waterfront, it will bring Canal Convergence one step closer to this goal and encourage recycling on the waterfront year-round. In addition, Solid Waste Services supplied metal from its decommissioned garbage bins to create the new bins, adding another layer onto the recycling initiative.

A call for artists went out the summer of 2018 and three finalists were chosen through an artist selection panel. They were Fausto Fernandez, Mary Neubauer, and Eli Richard. Each artist created a proposal that was presented and voted on by the public at the fall Canal Convergence event that year.

Mary Neubauer created the winning design, called Traceries. In her design, she implemented duel container bins for side-by-side recycling and trash. The bins have a double layer of steel sheet metal with the top layer featuring tracery designs of hummingbirds, butterflies, flowers, or whirly patterns. The bottom layer and the top layer are powder-coated in bright, contrasting colors.

The bins are now installed along the walking and biking path at the waterfront for people to use and enjoy. They are located on the south side of the canal between Goldwater Boulevard and Scottsdale Road.

See images of all eight bins online in the Permanent Art section of our website on the Traceries page.

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