A viewing telescope now stands in Mulberry Plaza, aimed at the old co-op tower. The City of Fruita says it was refurbished and spent 1991 to 1997 on top of the Empire State Building. Through the lens you can pick out flowers drawn by community members and worked into a new mural of Grrrreta, the Circle Park dinosaur.
The telescope is the piece people talk about. The bigger change this fall is where downtown's art now sits. The 2026/27 HeArt of Fruita rotation grew from five sculptures to nine, and several of the new spots are on South Mesa Street. That block spent eight months under reconstruction before reopening in late May. Downtown's art loop now runs a block farther south than it did last year.
What went up, and where
City crews and FCI Contractors installed the nine sculptures in mid-September along Aspen Avenue, Mulberry Street and South Mesa Street. The placements below come from the plan the Arts and Culture Board presented at the September 1 Fruita City Council meeting, which matched each piece to a site.
| Sculpture | Artist | Planned spot |
|---|---|---|
| A tall three-piece decorative work | Janene Cable | Mulberry Plaza |
| Happy Campers | Randall May | Raised pedestal in front of Kim's Auto and Visit Fruita |
| Been Through a Desert on a Horse | Randall May | Raised pedestal in front of Kim's Auto and Visit Fruita |
| Buffalo Dreams | Jeff Bates | Middle pedestal in front of Kim's Auto and Visit Fruita |
| Hogs and Kisses | Circle Park, by the tree near Town & Country Finance | |
| In Bloom | Trevor Hall | South Mesa corner by Relax Hair |
| Commonality | Justin Squier | In front of Orbit on South Mesa |
| Viceroy | Ken Cable | New pedestal by the Fruita Police Station |
| Earl | Ken Cable | By the FARM, at the corner of Mulberry Street |
At the council meeting, the board described a few of these in more detail. Randall May's two pieces are double-sided, so they went on taller pedestals where you can walk all the way around them. Hogs and Kisses is bright blue and bigger than its photo suggested, and it has a heart you can put your face through for a picture. Commonality is a robotic hand with a flower blooming in its palm. Viceroy is a butterfly, and Earl is a tall eagle.
Why South Mesa got new pedestals
Three of the nine pieces stand on South Mesa: In Bloom, Commonality and Viceroy. That was planned. When the Arts and Culture Board scouted sites in August, its list included "new South Mesa locations" alongside the familiar spots in Mulberry Plaza, the Aspen Avenue pedestals, Circle Park, the Dinosaur Journey parking lot by the Bark Park, and the front of the FARM. The board's minutes also say each piece's final spot depends on its size and site access, and that nearby businesses could weigh in on placement.
The groundwork came before the sculptures did. By early August, the city's weekly update reported a new HeArt pedestal installed on South Mesa beside the police station. Viceroy now sits on that pedestal. The council presentation describes it as a small triangular base.
The timing fits the street's recent history. The Business Times reported in July that the South Mesa reconstruction ran eight months and wrapped up in late May. Rides Bar & Grill at 152 S. Mesa St. was among the businesses that became reachable again once crews left. Four months later, that block has a corner sculpture by Relax Hair, another in front of Orbit, and a butterfly by the police station. For years, the HeArt rotation lived mostly on Aspen Avenue and around Circle Park. The rebuilt street now has art that leads walkers around the corner.
A walking order that covers all of it
The city's October 14 Art Walk started at the FARM, where people gathered for refreshments, and then went on a guided tour of the new pieces. It rained that night, and people came anyway. The same starting point works for a self-guided loop:
- Start with Earl at the FARM on the corner of Mulberry Street.
- Walk into Mulberry Plaza for Janene Cable's three-piece work and the telescope.
- Continue to the three pedestals in front of Kim's Auto and Visit Fruita for Happy Campers, Been Through a Desert on a Horse, and Buffalo Dreams.
- Cut over to Circle Park for Hogs and Kisses by Town & Country Finance, with Grrrreta nearby.
- Turn down South Mesa Street for In Bloom by Relax Hair, Commonality in front of Orbit, and Viceroy by the police station.
The city scheduled informational plaques for the Monday after the sculptures went in. The board's minutes describe each plaque as carrying a QR code that links to the artist's website.
The tower you look at from the plaza
The co-op tower is the one stop on the loop you can't walk up to. When the city announced the new artwork, it noted that the tower stands on private property and asked anyone watching the September 21 banner installation to stay downtown or on public right-of-way.
That explains the telescope. As KJCT reported, the city installed it so residents and visitors could see the murals' details up close. The two murals by Andrea Downs replaced the tower's longtime co-op banners and were unveiled at a Mulberry Plaza celebration on Friday, September 25. One mural, on one side of the tower, shows cyclists riding through the area's scenery. The other features Grrrreta and includes the community's flower drawings.
Downs told KJCT she was "excited for the next decade in Fruita," which suggests these murals are meant to stay up much longer than the sculptures around them. Grrrreta has a longer history of her own. Rocky Mountain PBS has told the story of how the dinosaur was moved to Circle Park and renamed by local children. She now appears twice on the walk, once as the sculpture on the ground and again as a mural on the tower above it.
A one-year gallery paid for locally
The tower murals are built to last. The sculptures will be gone in a year. WesternSlopeNow reported that all nine will stay on display for the 2026/27 cycle, and each selected artist receives a $1,000 honorarium. The money comes from Coco Vino, the Arts and Culture Board's annual fundraiser, plus community sponsors. The city's calendar lists Coco Vino as a fundraiser for the HeArt of Fruita program, held at Our Lady of Perpetual Motion.
Going from five pieces to nine nearly doubled the program in one cycle, and the extra pieces needed places to stand, including the new South Mesa sites. Because the program rotates every year, this lineup has a limited run.
Seeing the loop in December
The next good chance to see all of it with a crowd is Saturday, December 12. The city's holiday schedule has the Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair at the Fruita Community Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the downtown Parade of Lights at 5:30 p.m. Earlier that week, Cookies and Claus comes to the Community Center on December 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. If you arrive early for the parade, you'll have time to walk from Earl at the FARM down to Viceroy on South Mesa and stop at the telescope on the way back.
At The Van Gundy Group, we enjoy watching downtown Fruita take on new character one pedestal at a time, and we're always glad to talk about the places that make this town feel like home. If a walk past these sculptures has you thinking about your own next chapter in Fruita, we'd love to hear from you. Contact Us whenever you're ready.
