Theater of the Wind – Marina Heights

Artist Ilan Averbuch developed ‘Theater of the Wind’ from stone and weathered steel in 2017 for the Marina Heights campus in Tempe, Arizona. Creative Designs in Lighting illuminated the piece with 6 spotlights mounted on adjacent poles and focused to bring out the texture and form.

Artist Website: www.ilanaverbuch.com

Description: Averbuch has developed an exterior work titled “Theater of Wind” that both
frames the view corridors to and from Tempe Town Lake and creates a small, informal
outdoor gathering area and mini-performance area. The hull of a boat, referencing the
significance of Tempe Town Lake, rises up creating seating area. The work is fabricated by
Averbuch with both self-weathering steel and salvaged stone, materials common to his work.

Artist biography: Ilan Averbuch is an internationally-recognized sculptor born in Israel, but
educated in England and the United States. From 1977 to 1978 Averbuch attended
Wimbledon School of Art in London, and from 1979 to 1981 he attended the School of Visual
Arts in New York. His work is exhibited in galleries and museums internationally. He has
created more than three dozen permanent outdoor sculptures in the United States and
overseas. Locally, he has created work for the Valley Metro Light Rail at Central and
Camelback and in the City of Scottsdale.

“My work,” Averbuch says, “involves the recycling of images and materials, moving from one
time span to another.” His work is featured in several publications and a recent documentary.
The stone and steal that Averbuch uses for his monumental outdoor installations is typically
salvaged, often saving the material from landfills.

Funding: This project was funded by the Marina Heights Project, as a requirement of Tempe’s
Art in Private Development Ordinance.