Surprise Arts & Culture Master Plan

Surprise, Arizona

WHY

Surprise, Arizona is a city in the West Valley of the Phoenix Metro Region whose leaders are looking to arts and culture to help define their vast and growing metro area. Current plans forecast that by 2050, today’s 125 square miles will expand to 400+, and today’s 125,000 residents will increase to 500,000. This projected growth provides an opportunity for the city to proactively ensure new development is interspersed with arts and culture reflecting the city and its people.

HOW

Great care was paid to integrating the Public Art Master Plan with other planning efforts, such as the Park and Recreation Master Plan, to ensure that it could be easily implemented alongside others as the city grows and develops. Due to the large scale of the population and land area, the team focused on making public engagement accessible and diverse. From baseball spring training to public art bus tours, the team provided interesting engagement opportunities that met the needs of a community whose population includes large numbers of young families and retirees.

WHAT

The Surprise Public Art Master Plan covers topics ranging from recommendations on how to bring more publicly- and privately-supported public art to the city to encouraging the development of large-scale cultural venues. The plan helps solidify the role of art and culture in the future of Surprise.