Transportation Art by Youth
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Program Partners
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2018 Project
Video
Gallery
This public art project will be located along the heavily trafficked La Cañada Drive and will provide a landmark gateway identifying access to the Oro Valley Community Center. The location is at 10555 N. La Cañada Drive, between Lambert Lane and Naranja Drive, which has recently undergone construction to add a pedestrian traffic signal and other safety improvements to better serve the traveling public.
Under the direction and mentorship of the selected Teaching Artist Supervisors, local high school and middle school students will design and construct a Public Art mosaic installation at the entrance to the Oro Valley Community Center incorporating themes of community diversity, public recreation, and transportation. The installation will include at least one free-standing sculpture and covering available walls with mosaic art that incorporates local culture and heritage. The piece will create a unique identity for the Community Center entrance, tying together themes of multi-generational diversity, community connectedness, wellness, engagement, activity, health, public recreation, and transportation.
The scope of work for the installation includes creating an attractive pedestrian area and entrance on both the north and south sides of the intersection using desert-safe and durable materials such as ceramic tile, stone, concrete and metals in varying sizes, designs, shapes and textures. The process will allow the students to experiment with tile as an artistic medium and learn about the public art process from start to finish. Town staff will approve creative design and approach as well as provide professional assistance for engineering and grading of the site. The project will be facilitated by the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance, a local non-profit organization with over 20 years experience facilitating Public Art projects, including both commercial projects and PAG transportation art youth projects in Oro Valley.
The artist supervisors will oversee a total of 10 youth working a maximum of 20 hours per week for 8 weeks, from June 4 – August 3. Pre-planning and conceptualization will take place May 5 – June 4. During this time, the youth will meet with members of local, residential, and business communities and the Oro Valley Town Council for input. Youth will make a presentation to the Town Council of the proposed art work. Students will gain organizational skills, artistic tile and sculpture experience, and apply math and engineering concepts. They will measure distances, compute areas, and estimate the amount of materials needed for each phase of the project. For compensation, youth will earn money for school supplies or college. Students who participate in the project will gain a sense of accomplishment and a stronger connection to the community by building art pieces that are lasting monuments, leading a forum to engage the public, and meeting with Town Council members.
Studio space and use of kiln throughout the summer is being generously donated by Pima Community College West Campus Department of Art.
Under the direction and mentorship of the selected Teaching Artist Supervisors, local high school and middle school students will design and construct a Public Art mosaic installation at the entrance to the Oro Valley Community Center incorporating themes of community diversity, public recreation, and transportation. The installation will include at least one free-standing sculpture and covering available walls with mosaic art that incorporates local culture and heritage. The piece will create a unique identity for the Community Center entrance, tying together themes of multi-generational diversity, community connectedness, wellness, engagement, activity, health, public recreation, and transportation.
The scope of work for the installation includes creating an attractive pedestrian area and entrance on both the north and south sides of the intersection using desert-safe and durable materials such as ceramic tile, stone, concrete and metals in varying sizes, designs, shapes and textures. The process will allow the students to experiment with tile as an artistic medium and learn about the public art process from start to finish. Town staff will approve creative design and approach as well as provide professional assistance for engineering and grading of the site. The project will be facilitated by the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance, a local non-profit organization with over 20 years experience facilitating Public Art projects, including both commercial projects and PAG transportation art youth projects in Oro Valley.
The artist supervisors will oversee a total of 10 youth working a maximum of 20 hours per week for 8 weeks, from June 4 – August 3. Pre-planning and conceptualization will take place May 5 – June 4. During this time, the youth will meet with members of local, residential, and business communities and the Oro Valley Town Council for input. Youth will make a presentation to the Town Council of the proposed art work. Students will gain organizational skills, artistic tile and sculpture experience, and apply math and engineering concepts. They will measure distances, compute areas, and estimate the amount of materials needed for each phase of the project. For compensation, youth will earn money for school supplies or college. Students who participate in the project will gain a sense of accomplishment and a stronger connection to the community by building art pieces that are lasting monuments, leading a forum to engage the public, and meeting with Town Council members.
Studio space and use of kiln throughout the summer is being generously donated by Pima Community College West Campus Department of Art.
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SYAP Teaching Artists
Hiro Tashima and Jason Butler
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About the Teachers
The duo first met while teaching at Pima College in Tucson. They began collaborating on public art projects in 2011. The team joins Hiro’s ability to model plastic materials like clay and concrete and Jason’s skill manipulating metal. They have now completed 10 projects together. Tashima came to the US from Japan nearly 25 years ago to work on his Master of Fine Arts degree at Alfred University in NY. He has headed the ceramics department at Pima College for over 15 years. Also a born artist he dreamed of making sculpture for a living. He and his wife Yoshimi are the owners of Yoshimatsu Japanese restaurant in Tucson. They have a 6 year old daughter. Hiro is a competitive moto-cross racer and also enjoys cycling and running. He grew up in Hiroshima, Japan. Butler relocated to Tucson from California in 2003 to pursue his Master of Fine Arts degree at the U. of A. Upon graduation he taught sculpture at Pima College and two local high schools. After 12 years of teaching he began working full time on commissions for clients. He has dreamed of working as an artist since grade school. Jason is fluent in Spanish having lived and worked in Argentina for two years. He is an Eagle Scout, cyclist and ultrarunner. He and his wife Mary have 7 children. |
Hiro Tashima
Jason Butler |
Statement from the Teaching Artists
Hiro Tashima and Jason Butler joined forces to create public art in 2010. They met while teaching ceramics and metalwork respectively at Pima Community College. Tashima models intricate self portraits in his large and small ceramic forms. Butler's geometric metal sculptures also range from miniature to monumental. Both have been creating art since childhood. Please see www.tashimaart.com and www.simetalwerks.com for more information about the artists.
This Public Art installation at the Oro Valley Community Center entrance is actually the fourth project the artists have done while mentoring youth (the duo executed Quail Trail at Naranja Park in 2015). With each of these projects, they have worked with 10 high school students creating impressive pieces in just two months over the summer. Students are involved in each aspect of the project: design, fabrication and installation. Fabrication for this installment has students learning the intricacies of navigating a committee, team work, welding, ceramics and painting! Tashima and Butler love sharing the wonders of art and their favorite mediums with young people. They thrill at seeing students' faces light up with excitement over mastering new and difficult techniques!
The team arrived at the current design concept through a close collaboration with Oro Valley town staff including the Parks and Recreation directors of the Community Center. Contrasting materials will be an important theme for the art design: painted walls, shiny metal forms (solid bars and see through screens) and intricate mosaics. Abstraction, flow, organic line and modernity are additional describing features. The installation will feature artwork on both the north and south corners of the Community Center entrance.
This Public Art installation at the Oro Valley Community Center entrance is actually the fourth project the artists have done while mentoring youth (the duo executed Quail Trail at Naranja Park in 2015). With each of these projects, they have worked with 10 high school students creating impressive pieces in just two months over the summer. Students are involved in each aspect of the project: design, fabrication and installation. Fabrication for this installment has students learning the intricacies of navigating a committee, team work, welding, ceramics and painting! Tashima and Butler love sharing the wonders of art and their favorite mediums with young people. They thrill at seeing students' faces light up with excitement over mastering new and difficult techniques!
The team arrived at the current design concept through a close collaboration with Oro Valley town staff including the Parks and Recreation directors of the Community Center. Contrasting materials will be an important theme for the art design: painted walls, shiny metal forms (solid bars and see through screens) and intricate mosaics. Abstraction, flow, organic line and modernity are additional describing features. The installation will feature artwork on both the north and south corners of the Community Center entrance.