The Big Park Regional Coordinating Council is pursuing an initiative to install sculptures in four roundabouts along State Route 179 in the Village of Oak Creek complementary to the city of Sedona’s Art in the Roundabouts program.

The VOC project was formally launched in May 2022 when BPRCC created a standing committee to explore possible designs.

As the BPRCC is a nonprofit and not a government body, installation of the art will depend on receiving approval from Yavapai County and the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The effort is being led by VOC resident Steve Fiedler, who is chairing the BPRCC Art in the Roundabouts Committee.

“I was the field supervisor for the road district here in the Village of Oak Creek,” Fiedler explained. “I worked for it for four years until this year and I noticed an eight-foot concrete pad in all these roundabouts. So, it’s like, ‘OK, what’s this thing for?’ There’s nothing on it. So I started researching it and looking through the drawings, and talked to people and came to find out it was put on there originally for artwork. So I thought, OK, let’s get some artwork on it. I started talking to some of the community leaders here that I know, and several people tried this in the past, and nothing worked, so I thought, let’s try it again.”

Although not an artist himself, Fiedler is married to VOC mosaicist Lenore Hemingway, who exhibits at the Village Gallery of Local Artists.

The four roundabouts intended to receive art pieces are located at the intersection of State Route 179 and, from north to south, Bell Rock Boulevard; Cortez Road; Jacks Canyon Road and Verde Valley School Road; and Ridge Trail and Las Posadas.

During March and April of this year, the committee conducted a community survey of residents’ views on the proposed themes for the roundabout art and received 169 responses. Eighty-six percent supported the addition of art, while 11% opposed it.

Wildlife was the most popular of the committee’s proposed themes among survey respondents, with 33 respondents in favor of wildlife sculpture and only two opposed. Nineteen comments supported American Indian-themed art, with eight comments in opposition. Residents were ambivalent toward the outdoor recreation theme, which could include such elements as hiking, biking and birding; eight commented in favor of the theme and eight were opposed. The ranching and Western heritage theme was the least popular option, receiving 10 favorable responses and 18 negative responses.

Among the survey comments were three opposing the incorporation of loincloths into any sculptures of American Indians. The committee’s original criteria had also excluded representations of nudity in submitted artworks, and the survey received four comments opposing this restriction. The Yavapai, Apache and other pre-Columbian peoples of the American Southwest traditionally went naked most of the time or wore, at most, a small loincloth or skirt, according to European and early American explorers.

“We did a survey to everybody on what kind of art they were looking for, and that was one thing that people didn’t want to see,” Fiedler said.

Twenty-five respondents also suggested that roundabout art installations would interfere with views or traffic safety.

Submissions must meet additional requirements in addition to the thematic guidelines. They cannot be more than 20 feet in height, although the final requirements for the call to artists stated that “it is the committee’s desire to avoid any interference with travelers’ sight lines of our red rock scenery, which might suggest a lesser height.” Art must be viewable from all sides and all four traffic directions, and cannot encourage pedestrian access to the roundabout. It also must be “durable, requiring minimal maintenance” and, at the same time, be constructed of sheet metal “for affordability.” Installations needing a supply of water or electricity are excluded.

The organizing committee issued a call to artists on Sept. 1, to run through Thursday, Nov. 30. BPRCC is tentatively scheduled to hear a report on the committee’s recommendations on Jan. 31. This will be followed by a two-week community input process and a committee report to BPRCC on its final selections on April 15.

So far, the committee has not received any submissions.

“I’m not sure what’s holding them up,” Fiedler said. “I know of several that are going to submit, but nobody has so far. I’m assuming they’re waiting till November … I made contact with Sedona, and talked to [Sedona Arts and Culture Specialist] Nancy Lattanzi up there, and she sent out a call to artists to their community of people and all the artists that submitted for Sedona. And we went out locally and statewide, international, on our submittals. We’ve had some inquiries from Tucson, Arizona, Sarasota, Fla., and then here in the Village so far … We’d love to see a lot of local artists come up with our designs.”

“Hopefully we’re going to get at least three designs per roundabout, so 12 designs,” Fiedler continued. “Then we will submit these designs to the community for approval on which ones they like, and then the artists — we’ll have a contract with them where they’ll be responsible for producing the art and having somebody make it, and then having the supports engineered for what they feel is necessary, and that’ll be included in the price, and then we’ll have to contract out for the installer, and of course we’ll get all the permits and insurance from ADOT.”

BPRCC plans to fund the sculpture installations through a combination of private donations and state arts grants. The estimated cost for each piece, including engineering, mounting and the artist’s fee, is in the range of $50,000 to $100,000. One donor has already expressed interest in the project, and the committee is actively seeking others. “I think most people are waiting to see what we come up with for designs, and once those are brought forward and shown to the community, we’re hoping the community will step up and start donating money for that purpose,” Fiedler said. “We set up a 501(c)(3) with the Big Park council, so it’s going to be tax deductible … We need some designs, so the community will see that we’re serious about it. From there, the funding will come forward hopefully.”

The committee is currently in talks with Yavapai County and ADOT to determine the legal process for installing the finished artwork.

“I’m familiar with doing all that because I did that for four years with ADOT, submitted yearly permits and insurance with them,” Fiedler said. “We’re talking about two things, ownership of the art, who’s going to do the ownership, and the art specifications on the right-of-way. ADOT has certain requirements that they go by, and we’re trying to work with them on getting those down in writing, exactly what they are. We did get some feedback from them on the concrete pad, so we have a way to go forward with that, and we submitted some specifications to ADOT. We’re waiting for the reply if we’re on the right track with what we can give the artists for design.”

Fiedler expects that the process of equipping all four roundabouts with art will take up to five years.

“I think that would be a big boost for morale in our community and excite people,” Fiedler said. “I just want to see art on the roundabouts. That’s all.”