Yuma city leaders unveiled a new addition in downtown over the weekend.
An art installation titled "Perpetua" has replaced a damaged fountain on Main Street. It includes a steel pipe saguaro cactus and a steel prickly pear cactus as well as a fountain.
Artist Corey Cowan was selected from a pool of nine applicants. He and a group of local tradespeople and artisans who call themselves Mused Metal made the sculpture partially from materials reclaimed from projects at Taylor Farms, a local agricultural processing facility.
"It's kind of a central gathering point that people can sit around the edge, take a minute to actually relax and enjoy the area they're in," Cowan said. "Hopefully it's a nice addition to the art community in Yuma."
City officials had budgeted $10,000 for the project but Cowan waived his fee, instead asking the city to use it for more public art, City council members said the money went to pay for murals on the walls surrounding dumpsters in the parking lots behind Main Street businesses.
