{"id":676117,"date":"2026-05-31T14:05:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T14:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/676117\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T14:05:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T14:05:38","slug":"qaz-why-are-there-metal-horse-statues-near-mccormick-ranch-in-scottsdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/676117\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&AZ: Why are there metal horse statues near McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Through KJZZ’s Q&AZ reporting project, a listener asked: “What\u2019s the story behind those large metal horse statues near McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale?”<\/p>\n

Five aluminum horse statues, each 14 feet tall, look as if they\u2019re running straight for East Indian Bend Road. The public art installation is called “Water Mark<\/a>.” <\/p>\n

Kati Ballares, Scottsdale’s director of public art, said the larger-than-life pieces are actually gargoyles that facilitate the flow of floodwater from Scottsdale’s greenbelt down Indian Bend Wash.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A functional public art installation in Scottsdale called “Water Mark.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water actually flows through the sculptures and pours out of their mouths so that the artwork is completely transformed into this functioning fountain-like structure while it’s raining,” Ballares said. <\/p>\n

That water travels down the wash, through a series of Scottsdale parks and into the Salt River. <\/p>\n

\"14-foot<\/p>\n

Five 14-foot metal horse sculptures that help move floodwater make up “Water Mark” in Scottsdale.<\/p>\n

\u201c’Water Mark’ is one of my favorite examples of how public art does more than just sit in a space and look beautiful,” Ballares said. “It actually functions as a part of the flood infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The metal, cubist horses are also a nod to the city’s past. <\/p>\n

“There were many Arabian horse farms here, so that’s what the horses are referencing, this deep equestrian history of the city of Scottsdale,” Ballares said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A walking path in Scottsdale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Through KJZZ’s Q&AZ reporting project, a listener asked: “What\u2019s the story behind those large metal horse statues near…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-676117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}