The Cactus Collective, put together by Scottsdale Fashion Square and Scottsdale Arts, is commemorating the five Cs’ of Arizona— copper, cattle, cotton, climate, and citrus— through a sculpture contest open to all public artists. Advanced sculpture was presented with the idea to participate thanks to dance teacher Fara Sadler and her suggestion to sculpture teacher Sharon Biemond. When asked for volunteers, five students raised their hands: senior Jaymie Wollert, senior Andrew Ehrhard, junior Soren Snideman, senior Madison Britner, and senior Dani Mendrick. 

Presented with an eight foot tall cactus, the students had two weeks to complete the project. They came in on weekends and after school to start planning the layout and design. Wollert created all of the cactus flowers. Ehrhard was assigned chief engineer. He was responsible for the dimensions and structure of the mine cart. Britner acted as a project manager, also painting the wood grain on the cart. Mendrick took all of their ideas and presented them in a visual form, creating the overall design. Snideman was the color expert, making adjustments when needed. 

Inspired by indigenous culture and pioneer boomtowns, the group chose copper as their theme out of the five Cs’. “[Our inspiration] was the copper mines and indigenous land. The government is trying to sell the land, but it’s holy to the different tribes, and there are copper mines on that land,” said Britner. They raised the already massive sculpture by placing a cart underneath it. Ultimately, they were the only group to build both up and out of the cactus. “Most of the artists that approached this project just painted or decorated it. Whereas we looked at the cactus and said, ‘This is just the base. How do we build?’ We’re builders, we’re creators, we’re makers,” said Biemond. 

Despite the fact that there was a max of 15 group members allowed, the group was the biggest at the collective. When they went to assemble their piece among the other artists, they were sure they had won. Among the 14 artists that participated, they were also the only high school that applied. “We took it to a degree that no one had seen yet. We kind of set the bar for everyone else next year,” said Ehrhard. 

The cactus, titled “The Good. The Bad. and The Copper,” won best in show. It is currently on display at Scottsdale Fashion Square for the month of March and will be up for auction at the end of the month. Many big names are looking to purchase the cactus, including the CEO of Macerich. “We have these high level executives looking at this piece made from very humble materials like cardboard and spray foam,” said Biemond. The money will go towards charity after the bidding is solidified at the gala. The group is hopeful the highest bidder will donate the piece back to Perry. 

The group is feeling overall very relieved but sad now that the project is complete. “I’m super proud of the kids and our efforts, but I’m very sad that it’s over. They’re sad too. We worked for 12 days non-stop over three weekends, hanging out for six to eight hours making art, creating, talking, sharing stories about ourselves. Now it’s just done, so there feels like there’s a little bit of a loss after a project like that,” said Biemond.  

The upcoming Sculpture 3 class is excited to participate in the collective next year. “They’re already starting their plans to try to top what we did,” said Ehrhard. If next year’s competition is another open call to artists, they may have the opportunity to do just that.