Sunnyslope Rock GardenGrover Cleveland Thompson (c. 1913-1978)
Extant
10023 N 13th Pl, Phoenix, Arizona, 85020, United States
1952 to 1974
Available for viewing the first Friday afternoon of each month; otherwise, some of it may be viewed from beyond a perimeter fence.
About the Artist/Site
After Thompson, a heavy-equipment operator, retired and moved to this Phoenix neighborhood in 1952, he began creating a massive environment built up of rocks and concrete that he ornamented with both natural and man-made found objects. The installation, which he worked on for 22 years, had been inspired by seeing Petersen’s Rock Garden in Bend, OR., near where he used to live. At its height it included hundreds of figures, miniature buildings, windmills, and fountains, many brightly colored as a result of the shards of Fiestaware that Thompson used as inexpensive adornment. Many of the faces of the figures were created by using old Halloween masks as molds. Purchased in 1979 and operated for twenty years by New York native Marion Blake, she gave the Garden to the University of Arizona after her retirement. It is generally available for viewing the first Friday afternoon of each month; otherwise, some of it may be viewed from beyond a perimeter fence.
~ Jo Farb Hernández
Contributors
Materials
concrete, rock, tile
SPACES Archives Holdings
2 folders: clippings, correspondence, images, pamphlets, petition to save
Related Documents
Map & Site Information
10023 N 13th Pl
Phoenix, Arizona, 85020
us
Latitude/Longitude: 33.5775572 / -112.0528767
Nearby Environments
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