Fountain Hills is home to more than 150 pieces of public art, as well as plenty of noteworthy men, women and organizations who have helped shape the community we all call home.

As the town continues to grow and settle in, though, it’s time to reconsider the processes behind acquiring art and making dedications. That’s exactly what’s going on behind the scenes at Town Hall, as employees and the council ponder what can be done to continue incorporating public art into the fabric of the community, as well as honor noteworthy individuals.

On the public art front, Director of Community Services Rachel Goodwin is working with the Cultural and Civic Association to pin down best practices for acquiring and placing new art in the years ahead. In short, we’re running out of places to display additional sculptures, statues and the like, so the group is working on a plan to both designate additional areas where art could be displayed, as well as determine how to best pick the artwork that will go in those locations. It’s expected this process will roll through the summer, with a plan to hopefully be presented to the town council early this fall.

The town council is actually working through a similar process when it comes to naming parks, plazas and other locations around town after noteworthy citizens and groups. At the March 20 council meeting, the council discussed breaking the park running along Avenue of the Fountains into six easily identifiable locations that could each be utilized for dedication purposes. We’re hoping to see the same consideration given to other public parks, ballfields and the like around town in order to make the process more seamless in the coming years. Dedications don’t come up too often but, when they do, it will be nice to have pre-established locations to pick from, as well as more defined guidelines concerning how the process is actually carried out.

This kind of forward thinking and careful planning will allow Fountain Hills to continue to improve in a way that is uniform and displays purpose.