Immerse

August 26, 2020

Canal Convergence: Present Day

In 2018, Canal Convergence began its transition from a four-day event to ten consecutive days of large-scale public art, live performances, educational activities, and workshops.

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Reflection Rising by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics presented at Canal Convergence Spring 2018. Photo: Scottsdale Arts.

During the spring event, programing was implemented on Friday, February 23, through Saturday, February 24, and Friday, March 2, through Saturday, March 3, from 4:00–10:00 p.m. daily. The large-scale art installations featured at the event remained on display throughout the week in between these two weekends, beginning the shift to ten days for the fall event the same year.

ARIZONA! by Choi + Shine Architects at Canal Convergence Fall 2018. Photo: Betty Hum Photography.

Less than 10 months after 2018’s spring event, Scottsdale Public Art presented the largest Canal Convergence up to that point, which in turn saw the largest attendance since the event’s inception. Canal Convergence Fall 2018 included 10 large-scale art installations from local, national, and international artists.

Additionally, Canal Convergence expanded its public art footprint beyond the waterfront to present Local Light—a temporary public art initiative that commissioned local artists to create light-based indoor and outdoor art installations through the Old Town area of Scottsdale.

Walter Productions’ Water Serpent presented at Canal Convergence 2019. Photo: Chris Loomis.

From then on, the event has been held in November for a full ten-day experience. In both fall 2018 and 2019, Scottsdale-based Walter Productions featured installations that incorporated performative fire shows in the canal.

In 2019, Canal Convergence featured more than a dozen light-based installations, following the overarching theme of “A History of Water.” To check out all of the installations from the most recent iteration of Canal Convergence, click here.

Waterlight Graffiti by Antonin Fourneau was part of the 2019 Canal Convergence. Photo: Scottsdale Arts.

We look forward to presenting a social-distancing-friendly iteration of Canal Convergence this November 2020. Stay tuned to learn about the artworks that will be featured and for information on how we plan to change up the event in this new world.

Click here for the History of Canal Convergence Part 1

Click here for the History of Canal Convergence Part 2

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