Staff reports: court mural, park installation and summer arts workshops outlined for Surprise

At the May 5 Surprise Arts and Cultural Advisory Commission meeting, staff provided a multi‑item update on public‑art projects and summer programming.

Kendra, the new director in the Sports and Tourism Department, said arts and culture functions have moved into her department and staff are rebranding and integrating services. “We’re really excited to take on arts and culture into the sports and tourism department,” she said.

Staff reported the basketball court mural is nearly complete and has received positive feedback from local elected officials and staff. Parks and Recreation provided specific color guidance which staff said helped the mural complement the surrounding complex.

A larger park installation, referred to as Bounce and Swing, is scheduled to begin site work May 12 with installation continuing through July; staff warned that the project will look like a fenced construction site for several weeks while electrical and site work proceed. RSP Architects (Tempe) were named as the design firm for one of the installations.

The city completed an artist call for decorative traffic‑cabinet wraps; submissions were due the Sunday before the meeting, and staff said community voting will open in June where each artist will present two designs and the public will choose which advances.

Staff described a partnership with the public libraries for the summer‑reads program, themed “Color Our World.” The program recruited seven different artists who each proposed four workshops; staff said 28 workshops were scheduled, with artists receiving a stipend of $200 for supplies and $400 per workshop.

Staff also reported an operational fix for lights and landscape features at the Bloom/Planted site: circuits were rerouted so event setups would not cause lights to go off, and some ground fixtures will be replaced because of water damage.

Julie informed commissioners that the AZ Speaks program from Arizona Humanities — previously funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities — is on indefinite pause after loss of federal funding; staff said the city contracted previously scheduled speakers but will pause use of the program’s branding and vetting process. “It really stinks because part of what they did that was so valuable is that they vetted these speakers,” Julie said; staff are exploring other ways to maintain a speaker series while acknowledging cost and quality tradeoffs.

The commission approved the March 3 meeting minutes during the meeting (motion to approve made from the floor). Staff did not propose new budget items in this update; the briefing was informational and no formal program changes were adopted at the meeting.

Staff encouraged commissioners to help promote public voting for the traffic‑cabinet designs and community participation in summer workshops.