How familiar are you with the public art displayed across our fair city? At the moment, the City of Las Cruces oversees more than 50 public artworks, including the historic water tank murals, and the iconic Recycled Roadrunner on I-10. Murals, sculptures and other artworks in various mediums complete the package. If you’re not that familiar, now’s the time to get acquainted, via the Discover Las Cruces Public Art Scavenger Hunt, running October 3 – 31, 2022.
Nine public works from the City’s public art collection have been chosen by the City Art Board to be highlighted in the public art audio stories pilot program. The new program provides additional information about the artwork via short audio recordings, which can be accessed on any mobile device with scanning capabilities. Signs with a unique QR code, placed at each location, will access a website where participants can listen to the recording and find a link to a map of other audio locations.
October’s scavenger hunt is a fun way to explore the city and learn more about the nine City of Las Cruces art installations. Scavenger hunt clues are cryptic, but if you take your time and pay close attention to detail, they can be answered with information gleaned from each location. All you have to do is match the clue description with the correct art piece, then submit the completed form when you’re done. Each submitted form will serve as an eligibility for prizes. Weekly winners will be announced and entered in a drawing to win a grand prize at the end of the month.
As set out by the City of Las Cruces Public Art Master Plan – which went into effect on March 2, 2020 – there are four specific categories of public art that the City focuses on. They are the inclusion of public art in the construction of City facilities and parks, public art projects that serve as landmarks and can assist with wayfinding, the pursuit of opportunities to partner with external partners on public art projects that provide hands-on public art experiences to the community, and the highlighting of aspects of the unique history and present-day cultures of Las Cruces. Taken together, these categories chart an exciting future for public art in Las Cruces, creating a path for the thoughtful planning and advancement of the City’s investments in public art.
All audio recordings for the scavenger hunt were produced by Nan Rubin, Founder, and Zane Chaffee, General Manager of Las Cruces Community Radio. For more information on the Discover Las Cruces Public Art Scavenger Hunt, visit the website. There you’ll find information, clues and the online answer form to fill out for prizes. Then get out there and familiarize yourself with the vast art collection strewn across the City of Las Cruces.
Posted by LasCruces.com
