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Art along the way

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Cool down under some functional public art modeled on native shelter designs.

Last time we met artists Barbara Grygutis, Kevin Berry and Buster Simpson, they were walking the Flamingo Arroyo Trail with officials, mapping out plans, generating ideas.

Three years later, art installations along the trail — which will extend along the Las Vegas Wash, from the Wetlands Park to Maryland Parkway — are near complete. This includes domed shelters inspired by indigenous cultures of the Southwest, composed of swooping steel panels jutting from the ground in an almost space-age form. Seating was made from rubble rescued from the Stardust, including a chunk of swimming pool steps.

The artists — Simpson from Seattle, Grygutis from Tucson and Berry from Phoenix — first convened for the project in 2002. The $2.5 million project, funded by a public lands management grant, will be dedicated in late September. In all, the trail will have three trailheads and a wayside area with art enhancements, seating and desert landscaping.

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