Major Changes Are Coming to Roosevelt Row's Pop-Up Park

The Peritoneum sculpture that’s been part of the Roosevelt Row arts district since June 2012 came down on Saturday, April 8. It's one of many changes taking place at a temporary park located on the northeast corner of Roosevelt and Second streets.

But fans of the public art shade structure, created in 2011 by a small team of ASU students using dozens of curved wooden panels, shouldn't worry. The work isn't gone for good.

It’s simply being refurbished and readied for reinstallation during the last weekend of April, says community developer Dorina Bustamante, who heads a consulting firm called Continental Shift.

However, locals will notice a few differences once Peritoneum returns.

Originally, the sculpture was installed at the northeast corner of the park that's also known as The Lot: What Should Go Here? Bustamante helped property owner Mike Davis launch in 2012 after gathering input about what people wanted to see there.

When it returns, the sculpture will sit at the southwest corner of the park, serving as a gateway to the space that’s been used for all sorts of community events from film screenings to participatory art projects.

But something else will change as well.

Peritoneum will be white, instead of blue, Bustamante says.

She’s hoping the color change discourages people from writing on the artwork, which has happened in the past. And there’s another practical benefit, she says: The shade makes it easier to paint over graffiti.

Peritoneum is being refurbished as part of a larger effort to spruce up the park, Bustamante says. This month, existing trees will be re-boxed, and some will be moved to nearby locations. The parking canopy on the north side of the park will be removed.

A mural painted by several local artists in 2012, located on the wall that currently sits underneath the canopy, will remain. And a new mural, being painted on a panel by artist Travis Bedel, will go up on the west-facing wall at monOrchid, temporarily covering the Brian Boner mural painted there in 2016, monOrchid owner Wayne Rainey says.

The new mural, which features a chalice surrounded by desert plants in bloom, is being painted in conjunction with a Stella Artois event happening Thursday, April 27, at the park. That mural, which will basically function as a giant advertisement for the Stella Artois brand, is slotted to stay for three months. When it's removed, Rainey says, Boner's mural will once again be on view.

The sculpture's reinstallation is scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30.

In the meantime, the sculpture likely will be stored at the Growhouse, an urban garden that recently relocated from Sixth Street to the Knipe House property, located on Second Street just north of the park.

It’s not the first time that Peritoneum, created with 45 pieces of laser-cut wood, has been moved.

The sculpture originated at ASU in Tempe, where it was created in 2011 by six students of landscape architecture and design as part of a contest centered on creating art and landscaping to enliven outdoor spaces.

The design team included Kyle Fiano, who helped to move it from Tempe to downtown Phoenix. Fiano took the lead on Saturday, as several people joined in disassembling the piece. And he’ll be on hand for putting in back together at the end of the month.

Planning for a fifth anniversary celebration for the What Should Go Here? project is underway, Bustamante says. By then, Fiano will be able to just sit back and take it all in.

Editor's note: This post has been updated from its original version to include the newly announced amount of time the Stella Artois mural advertisement will be on view.