Official Web Site of the City of Phoenix

The artist worked with elementary students at Hererra Middle School to create a mixed media mural that was designed, fabricated, and installed by the artist and the students. Materials include handmade ceramic tiles and recycled soda cans. The artwork’s title is Collaboration because every student at Hererra participated in this project.



“Eddie Dominguez’s work embraces signs of the present and the past within a passionately held pride for his ethnic roots. It also reflects a kind of generosity of spirit that approaches abandon . . .As there are layers of implied meaning in Dominguez’s work, so too are there layers of form . . .His work celebrates the personal and the geographic; it embraces the life of the body and the scenery within which that life is explored.”

- Wesley Rusnell, Curator, Roswell Museum and Art Center

Although the above quote directly describes Eddie Dominguez’s work, a correlation can be drawn between the artist’s method and the intent of public art as a means of bringing a city together. The layers described in the quote are much like that of a city as diverse as Phoenix. The work displayed in the Sky Harbor Airport is meant to introduce the traveling public to the unique cultural life of Phoenix through its art and history. With this in mind, Sky Harbor Airport is an ideal venue for Dominguez’s piece, Collaboration.

Beyond the visual content of the artwork, the artist solicited assistance from students at Hererra Junior High School, hence the title Collaboration. The resulting work is a mosaic of brightly colored ceramic tiles and found objects made with care by a cooperative group of young artists. Visually, the piece takes on a sense of Hispanic folk art while maintaining the contemporary nature of a shared creative process. The team effort then acts as a metaphor as Collaboration focuses on a sense of community within the City of Phoenix.

About the Artist
Eddie Dominguez was born and raised in Tucumcari, New Mexico. His work is widely collected and known for its connection to pattern, color, and Dominguez’s personal background. Currently, Eddie Dominguez teaches ceramics at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.