Here’s how Phoenix ended up with so many naked statues downtown

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-best-reads/2017/11/27/heres-how-phoenix-ended-up-so-many-naked-statues-downtown/872614001/

For the capital of a state with a national reputation for being conservative, Phoenix sure has a lot of naked people downtown.

They are statuesque, or more precisely, statues.

There are more than 20 artworks in the altogether permanently scattered throughout the downtown area.

And they are there, for the most part, because of powerful businessmen who pushed past social norms and government criticism in order to plunk the bare bronzes in the center of the city.

The statues have since become part of the scenery in Phoenix, a seemingly unexpected sight that has become accepted.

“For such a conservative city, it’s kind of surprising isn’t it?” said Beatrice Moore, an artist who was instrumental in creating the arts district along Grand Avenue, just west of downtown.

“They’re certainly not lewd,” Moore said. “They don’t verge on being risqué in my opinion.”

Others have had different opinions, mainly when the first set of stitchless statues was proposed. But there was never a groundswell to remove them.

There technically are clothes on one set of statues, at least enough to satisfy the government, although it would take a close look to find those traces, and taking that close look might cause more of a stir than the statues themselves. more…