​​​​​​​​Encanto Park Playland

Mr. Potato Head Rises over Phoenix​​


ARTIST:   Peter Shire
DATE:   1991
LOCATION:  Encanto Park, 15th Avenue and Encanto Boulevard
TYPE:   Sculpture
MATERIALS:   Concrete, Polychrome, Enameled Metal
BUDGET:   $112,000
DISTRICT:   4
ZIP CODE:  ​85007


​Artist Peter Shire worked with the design firm of Cella Barr and Assoc. in the development of the re-designed Kiddieland Adventure Playground at Encanto Park.  Shire participated in a series of workshop sessions out of which came recommendations for the overall design of the playground.  In the context of these discussions, Shire proposed the inclusion of a whimsical entrance piece consisting of a series of 10-foot high concrete columns arranged in an arc just inside the playground entrance, and crowned with an assortment of polychrome enameled metal geometric shapes.  Six individual single-column pieces are scattered about the site as well.  Shire describes these colorful pieces, which serve as a landmark for Kiddieland, as a cross between a controlled explosion and Mr. Potato Head, with the Arizona sun rising in it.