Light Between the Islands background by Grimanesa Amoros
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GOLDEN WATERS

Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amorós GOLDEN WATERS, 40 x 164 x 18-foot public art light sculpture and outdoor LED sculpture floating above the Arizona Canal at the Soleri Bridge, Scottsdale, AZ, 2015. LED tubing in diffusion and reflective material rises from the canal waters as if born of them, honoring the ancient Hohokam people's irrigation canals. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and winner of the 2016 CODAaward. Outdoor light sculpture by Grimanesa Amorós.
Grimanesa Amoros video thumbnail for GOLDEN WATERS

Location: Soleri Bridge Waterfront, Canal Project | Scottsdale, Arizona, 2015
40 ft x 164 ft x 18 ft (1.22 m x 49.99 m x 5.49 m)
LEDs, diffusion and reflective material, custom lighting sequence, electrical hardware.

GOLDEN WATERS is a 164-foot light sculpture suspended above the waters of the Arizona Canal at Scottsdale’s Soleri Bridge, tracing the ancient irrigation channels of the Hohokam people through a luminous arc of LED tubing that rises from the water as if born from it.

  • Spanning 164 feet and rising 18 feet above the canal, GOLDEN WATERS was commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art and installed in direct dialogue with the Soleri Bridge, the final major work by architect, artist, and philosopher Paolo Soleri.
  • The work draws its conceptual foundation from the Hohokam people, whose sophisticated irrigation canals transformed the desert Southwest into a flourishing civilization, positioning the sculpture as both a tribute to Indigenous engineering and a meditation on water and human survival.
  • The Arizona Republic (2015) reported on the work’s engagement with the canal’s living ecology, noting how the sculpture’s lines serve as a metaphor for the balance between urbanization and the enduring power of the natural world.
  • GOLDEN WATERS was awarded the 2016 CODAaward, an international prize honoring the best integrations of commissioned art within public and architectural contexts.
  • The work received coverage in Architectural Digest, The Arizona Republic, Interior Design, and Phoenix New Times (2015–2016), affirming its significance within both the public art landscape and the broader conversation around land, memory, and Indigenous heritage.

    • The Hohokam people’s ancient ingenuity and groundbreaking irrigation canals transformed lives and shaped civilizations. Grimanesa Amoros presents GOLDEN WATERS, a large-scale temporary light installation that floats across the water, representing the twists and turns of the Hohokam‘s ancient innovations. Through a brilliant fusion of the Soleri Bridge’s spine by architect Paolo Soleri and innovative light tubing structures, Amoros creates an immersive experience.

    Amoros’s artistic journey is deeply intertwined with the human body’s response to environmental conditions. By forging a profound connection to nature, one can sense the presence of water and the essence of the natural world by standing in its proximity. Harnessing this elemental connection, GOLDEN WATERS emerges from the tranquil canal waters, seamlessly blending with its surroundings as if it were an intrinsic part of the waterway. The lines of the artwork symbolize the delicate equilibrium between the forces of urbanization and the enduring power of the natural world, reflecting a harmonious coexistence between the two.

    GOLDEN WATERS captures the essence of the human body’s response to the environment—symbolizing the delicate equilibrium between urban development and the timeless forces of the natural world.

    Description: GOLDEN WATERS is a monumental light sculpture installation on the water commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art in Scottsdale, Arizona. The work consists of LED lighting tubes and a custom-made lighting sequence that floats atop the water, conjoined with the Paolo Soleri Bridge.

    Read more about the project here.