Client: Barbara Grygutis

Overview

The 620 foot, 4,500-pound, cast aluminum “Breakaway” designed by Tucson based artist, Barbara Grygutis, spans the Drinkwater Underpass in Scottsdale’s Civic Center. Honoring western ranch life and rodeo traditions, the “Breakaway as a work of art, seeks to translate this everyday iconography into contemporary, lyrical and visually exciting imagery. I’d like to think about the built environment and what could be added or subtracted.” – Barbara Grygutis

Goals

Our goals for the "Breakaway" was to stay true to the western ranch life vision Barbara Grygutis intended and adhere to the mission Scottsdale Arts upholds: Mission — To develop, advance and deliver high-quality arts, cultural experiences, and opportunities in Scottsdale to residents, cultural institutions, artists, and visitors from around the world.

Process

We initially received concept renderings which the artist provided to the City of Scottsdale and then built a 3d file for the entire project. All the knots were first Rapid Prototypes from the data files, then molded and cast. The Rapid Prototype straight sections were molded in plaster, the poured in urethane rubber, with a plaster backing. These became the patterns for the resin bonded sand casting. We used the positive rubber patterns to cast 149 sand molds to get the number of castings required of straighter sections for the project. We used approximately 5000 pounds of sand per mold. The resulting artwork includes two 300-foot lengths on both sides of the underpass, totaling 600 feet of rope connecting Scottsdale’s past and present.