Butterfly sculptures fill Phoenix art center this weekend

Phoenix Rotary 100 is adding bursts of color to the Valley for a good cause. The Rotary Club’s 100th club is raising money through Take Flight, a fundraiser featuring more than 50 butterfly sculptures created by local artists, many of whom are women whose work shapes the Valley’s creative landscape.

Take Flight features local artists responsible for over 50 large butterfly sculptures displayed across the Valley. The event will conclude with a bidders’ reception on March 29.

The butterflies decorate the Esplanade at 24th Street and Camelback, turning it into an open-air gallery. Between office towers and restaurant patios, bursts of color emerge from the landscaping — metal wings, glass inlays, desert palettes, abstract shapes. They’re butterflies, but not the delicate kind. These are sculptural creations made by more than 35 local artists, many of whom are women whose mark is visible throughout Phoenix’s creative scene.

“Butterflies represent transformation and new beginnings,” says Daniel Capote, a Rotary 100 member. “That goes along with a lot of things that we do — whether it’s kids learning or youth or anti‑trafficking.”

Phoenix Rotary 100’s mission has always been service. But Capote and fellow Rotarian Lisa Henning wanted a fundraiser that wasn’t inward-facing.

“A lot of nonprofits do galas where you ask your own members to give money,” Capote said. “For this, it’s really about letting other people know what we do — and how they can support.”

The butterflies start as raw metal shapes — “two big aluminum … hardcore wings,” Capote said — and the artists develop them from there. Some paint them to look like real monarchs. Others use them as blank canvases for desert scenes, geometric designs, or surrealist stories. A few go even further, adding welded metal, powder coating, wood, or blown glass.

“Some look like actual butterflies… and some are just crazy works of art,” Capote said. “We have a really, really amazing art community here in Phoenix and Maricopa County.”

Among this year’s contributors is La Morena, the muralist behind the large NFL trophy mural downtown. “She’s one of our artists,” Capote noted.

The exhibition now moves to the Shemer Art Center for Art in the Garden on Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29. The Shemer family has been part of Phoenix Rotary 100 for generations, making the partnership feel almost inevitable. The sculptures will be positioned throughout the property during the two-day event, ending with a bidders’ reception on Sunday, March 29, when the online auction closes.

Proceeds support Phoenix Rotary 100’s charitable work—such as youth development, homelessness initiatives, and longstanding programs like the club’s 95-year-old statewide speech contest. Funds also aid local nonprofits like St. Luke’s Food Bank and Shemer’s summer art camps.

The point, Capote says, is visibility. Rotary has traditionally been the “silent backer,” the group doing the work without seeking attention. Take Flight inverts that idea. It’s open, accessible, and rooted in the artists who define Phoenix.

“Some of them look like butterflies. Some of them are just crazy works of art,” Capote says. “That’s the exciting part.”