Palm Springs brings public art to the people, dedicating four new sculptures in city parks ⋆ The Palm Springs Post

*Public Arts Commission Chair Gary Armstrong speaks with artist Ben Sinor as his piece, Shapes and Sizes, is installed Sunday at Desert Highland Park.*

A casual coffee conversation three years ago has taken shape across Palm Springs, where four new public sculptures are now installed in city parks as part of the ArtScape in the Parks program.

The installations were formally dedicated Wednesday during a World Art Day ceremony at City Hall, marking the completion of an effort to bring contemporary art into neighborhood spaces rather than confining it to galleries or downtown corridors.

Public Arts Commission Chair Gary Armstrong said the idea began in May 2023, when then-newly elected Councilmember Jeffrey Bernstein pointed out gaps in where art was — and wasn’t — located.

“Within five minutes, he said, ‘There’s not enough art in Victoria Park, and there’s nothing in Gateway Park,’” Armstrong recalled. “And I then said, ‘Where’s Gateway Park?’”

From there, the concept evolved into a multi-year process of selecting sites, commissioning artists and navigating the logistics of fabrication and installation.

“Ideas became conversations. Conversations became sites,” Armstrong said. “In the city of Palm Springs, patience apparently means three years.”

The result is four distinct works spread across the city: Shapes and Sizes by Ben Sinor at Desert Highland Park; Rover by Jeff Zischke at Victoria Park; Dancer #6 by Lyle London at Gateway Park; and Spegody by Jack Howard-Potter at Baristo Park.

*The artists who created four new pieces of public art stand behind photos of each of their creations outside Palm Springs City Hall Wednesday morning.*

Mayor Naomi Soto, who issued a proclamation declaring April 15 — the birthday of Leonardo da Vinci — as World Art Day in Palm Springs, said the program reflects a broader commitment to accessibility.

“By placing art in these shared, everyday spaces, we ensure that creativity is accessible to everyone — families, children, residents, visitors alike,” Soto said, calling public art “essential to the character of the city.”

Armstrong said the goal was to expand how residents experience public space.

“The mayor and city council embraced the idea that our parks should be places of creativity, not just recreation,” he said.

Each piece was selected to offer a different kind of interaction.

“Shapes and Sizes celebrates the diversity of Palm Springs through stylized cacti, varying in height, form and color — a community shaped not by sameness, but by the strength of its differences,” Armstrong said.

*Spegody by Jack Howard-Potter was installed recently at Baristo Park.*

He described Rover as a geometric reimagining of a familiar companion, while Dancer #6 captures “a fleeting moment of motion in metal.” Spegody, he said, invites interpretation through abstract human forms that “hover between recognition and imagination.”

For Armstrong, the impact of the program was summed up before the ceremony even began.

During the installation of Spegody at Baristo Park, a Parks Department employee told him his 8-year-old daughter had visited the sculpture the day before. After studying it, she turned and shouted: “I love it.”

“That’s it,” Armstrong said. “That’s why we do this.”