SCOTTSDALE — Some days, while driving east on Thomas Road near 64th Street and the canal, you might see Walter the Bus sitting in front of what once served as a lumber yard. Walter is not your usual people-moving form of transportation. He looks like a Volkswagen bus on steroids.
AJO — During his lifetime, Louis Conde was known as a teacher with unusual ideas, particularly for the early years of the 20th century. After he died in 1931, his wife decided that his teachings shouldn’t end with his death, so she had some of them placed on his grave marker — in an unusual fashion.
ARIVACA — Main Street here runs about three blocks long with little to distinguish it from major thoroughfares in other small towns. But the community does have a goose sculpture, and it is a very lumpy goose. Created by the late Robert Friccione, it sits in front of an art gallery and serves as its sign.
TUCSON — In a roundabout way, a burglar was Gary Morrow’s inspiration when he set out to create a work of art. After his truck was broken into in 2008, his wife said she wanted a wall around their property, so he set out to fulfill her wishes.
Q: Where exactly is Black Canyon, anyway?
A: Which one? I found four Black Canyons in Arizona Names, X Marks the Spot, which is a really swell book, by the way. In fact, there are about six pages of “Black” names in there.
