Bobby Zokaites

Just around the corner on the inside of the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building sits the Olive DeLuce Art Gallery, now advertising a new, colorful and energetic exhibit.

The exhibit, titled “The Spindle, The Shuttle and the Needle,” showcases a variety of metalwork and weaving sculptures by artist Bobby Zokaites. The exhibition opened Sept. 29 and will run through Oct. 24.

Phoenix-based sculptor Bobby Zokaites did not even know his work was nominated when he learned, earlier this year, that he would receive the 2025 US Water Prize for Outstanding Artist from the US Water Alliance (Federal Way, Washington).

Recognizing that well-conceived art can foster awareness of — and appreciation for — local water services, the annual award honors innovative art pieces that draw attention to crucial work that often happens out of sight. Zokaites took the stage to receive his award in July during the One Water Summit in Pittsburgh, where he dove headfirst into the water sector.

When sculptor Bobby Zokaites moved to Phoenix in the summer of 2011, walking the half mile to classes at Arizona State University in triple-digit heat felt risky. He learned to find shade along his route — resting in a stoplight’s sliver of it, dodging the sizzling sun at each opportunity.

Meet Bobby Zokaites. Bobby is a sculptor who often works on a very large scale.

One of his latest public art projects, “A Time Machine Called Tinaja,” features two massive sculptural arches — one is 16 feet tall, the other is 19. They look like two giant streams of water, shooting up over the park with a landscaped, winding path below.

It’s impactful in fact, he won the U.S. Water Prize for that piece this year. The Show spoke with him more about it and the community-centered approach he takes to public art.

Bobby Zokaites’s “Botanical Canopy,” a giant, plant-like sculpture woven from more than 10,000 feet of nylon parachute cord. This one’s my favorite, and not just because it was erected at Cortez Park, my childhood stomping grounds. Charmingly, its leaf-like sunshades resemble multicolored tennis rackets that cast geometric patterns onto the pavement.

This prestigious national honor, presented during the One Water Summit in Pittsburgh, celebrates artists whose work fosters deeper public understanding of water issues and inspires innovative, community-centered water solutions.

"Botanical Canopy" by Bobby Zokaites is a whimsical, plantlike sculpture featuring leafy canopies made with over 10,000 feet of woven nylon parachute cord. It's at Cortez Park in Phoenix.

Bobby Zokaites’ eight-foot public sculpture “Wailuku Wings,” created in his Arizona studio with inspiration from the Maui community, will be unveiled June 20 at the Imua Discovery Garden. The 10 a.m. unveiling of the butterfly sculpture will be blessed by Uncle Bill Garcia and dedicated in the honor of two children who are no longer with us – Will Smith and Charlie Naylor.

Wailuku’s latest public showpiece under the Small Town Big Art initiative will be unveiled during a blessing at 10 a.m. Monday at the Imua Discovery Garden. “Wailuku Wings” was developed over the course of four months by sculptor Bobby Zokaites, who was selected by a community jury as part of a 2021 call to artists.

An Arizona-based artist has been selected to create a sculpture for the Imua Discovery Garden as part of a collaboration between the local nonprofit and a Wailuku-based public art program.

Arizona-based artist Bobby Zokaites and his studio assistant Kara Roschi are on a weeklong site visit to Wailuku to learn about its history, culture and sense of place for a sculpture they will create for a SMALL TOWN * BIG ART and Imua Discovery Garden project.

Arizona artist Bobby Zokaites and landscape architects from Dig Studio have transformed a City of Phoenix water well site into a new community greenspace.

PHOENIX ART MUSEUM: Local sculptor Bobby Zokaites rejects the traditional convention of art as a hands-free experience, tossing it all the way out the door.

SHOUTOUT ARIZONA: We had the good fortune of connecting with Bobby Zokaites and we’ve shared our conversation below.