BREAKAWAY
Drinkwater Boulevard Underpass, Scottsdale, AZ, USA. 2024

Cast aluminum, LED lighting, and teal colored underpass walls.
6’ H x 630’ L x 8” D

BREAKAWAY, a sculpture commissioned for the City of Scottsdale’s Drinkwater Underpass, is designed to echo the city’s continuum from its historic western roots to a contemporary vision of a city firmly rooted and moving into the future.

The 630-foot underpass provides a large canvas to express the concept of history leading into the future. Understanding origins opens progress into a future that informs and promotes civic understanding.

The work of art uses realistic and familiar imagery, rope, and roping, a part of historical and contemporary Scottsdale life, to create a visual narrative.

BREAKAWAY is designed to convey a universal theme with imagery that crosses diverse cultural borders. Drawn from Western Americana, this imagery evokes symbolism from many global communities

The sculptural relief is fabricated cast aluminum. It appears floating on the walls as it unfurls through the underpass. The lighting is designed to emphasize the featured knots. The walls of the underpass are painted teal. The color teal deep blue-green color, used for the underpass wall color, combines the calming properties of blue with the renewal qualities of green. Teal can symbolize a connection to the natural world. It is often used to create a sense of peace and tranquility. It is a revitalizing and rejuvenating color that also represents open communication and clarity of thought.

Fabrication: Bollinger Atelier, Phoenix, Arizona.
Photos by: Katie McCann for Barbara Grygutis Sculpture LLC.