Breakaway: Bringing Grygutis' Public Art to Downtown Scottsdale

Public Art as a Gateway

Public art is often experienced as a finished object, but in practice it is the result of months of engineering, fabrication, and installation.
Installed beneath Drinkwater Boulevard in downtown Scottsdale, Breakaway transforms the underpass into a gateway to the city’s Arts District. As Tanya Galin, Public Art Manager for Scottsdale Public Art, described it, “Breakaway has a contemporary feel, yet it harkens back to Scottsdale’s slogan as ‘The West’s Most Western Town.’ There’s a bit of the old and the new, past and the present.

From Digital Design to Fabrication Reality

Inspired by the simple form of a rope, Breakaway is made of looping aluminum elements that move through the underpass in a continuous gesture. Grygutis chose the rope because it is a familiar object with many meanings, allowing each viewer to form a personal connection with the work.

The beauty of public art is that everybody who looks at it sees something different… Sometimes people give me interpretations of my work that I didn’t even think about.
-Barbara Grygutis

The project began with Barbara Grygutis’ design, which was developed into digital models. These models allowed the full installation to be evaluated before production began.

3D renderings and partial layout of Grygutis’ “Breakaway” rope design.

Every curve was assessed not only for visual continuity, but also for how it would be cast, assembled, and installed on site. This process created a detailed guide to use during fabrication, and allowed the team to anticipate how the full piece would come together.

Layout of the full “Breakaway” design with planning for wall dimensions.

Rapid prototypes were then produced. These prototypes worked as templates for both sand casting and mold-making for the final aluminum components, linking digital development to traditional foundry processes.

Fabrication and Finishing

Once cast, the aluminum components were welded, fitted, and finished to maintain seamless transitions between sections. Joins and surface work were refined so the installation would read as a continuous form rather than assembled parts.

Parts of the rope form are cast in aluminum, leaning against shelving in the metal shop.

Installing Breakaway in Downtown Scottsdale

During installation, the aluminum segments were brought into position and assembled into their final configuration. As each piece was installed, the full experience of the work began to emerge.

The teal installing Breakaway, on a teal painted wall wearing high-vis vests.

What had existed as discrete fabricated components in the shop became a continuous gesture onsite.
The final installation shifts the experience of the underpass from a transitional space into a defined public environment shaped by rhythm, repetition, and flow.