Grandstand Bas Relief

ID: 2174 ~ Source: Einar Kvaran, photograph, Federal Art Project sculpture, AZ State Fair Grounds, Wikimedia Commons; accessed December 18, 2019. ~ Creator: Sculpture by David Carrick Swing and Florence Blakeslee ~ Date: 1938/2018
This file appears in: Arizona's State Fair
Grandstand Bas Relief
Wikimedia Commons

Sculptors Florence Blakeslee and David Carrick Swing depicted 23 scenes of everyday life in Arizona on the Grandstand. This mold emphasizes the role of air travel and automobiles in opening up the American west to tourists. The palm trees capture the 1930s desert vision espoused by Phoenix boosters. Water in the foreground suggests the lush monsoon rains. David Carrick Swing also painted the murals for the Arizona State exhibit at the Golden Gate International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1939.

This file appears in: Arizona's State Fair

By Max Beall
During the week of December 4, 1905, heavy rainstorms forced state officials to reschedule Arizona’s first territorial fair. Weeks later, on Christmas Day, the fair opened its doors. Governor Joseph H. Kibbey made a few opening remarks to more than…