Multiple Artists
Scavenger Hunt: The Case of the Missing Artwork
One of the artists at Canal Convergence needs your help! Put on your detective hat, pull out your phone, and head out on an augmented reality scavenger hunt.
An artist from a far-away land was visiting the desert for the first time. Dazzled by the desert creatures and plants, she immediately began to sketch and take notes in her treasured sketchbook. However, along the way, she lost some pages. Can you help her find her notes and drawings and return her sketchbook back to its original glory?
About the Project
Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation partnered with Saguaro High School, Hoverlay, and artists Roy Wasson Valle and Bobby Zokaites to develop the scavenger hunt. Students from the Sabercat Robotics team took on the challenges of building a solar-powered pedestal with recycled materials from Scottsdale Solid Waste Services, while art students worked on glass and ceramic details for each totem. Artist-in-residence Bobby Zokaites mentored Saguaro High School art and Sabercat Robotics students through the artistic and engineering processes while Hoverlay and Roy Wasson Valle designed the AR. Through the project, robotics students studied electrical systems for power and lighting, learned about and practiced welding, and saw an engineering project to completion. Art students experimented with texture and ceramics and learned glass-firing techniques—including tack-fusing and slumping—for glass panels to outfit each totem.
The result is four sculptures, each consisting of three parts—a solar-powered and motion-activated lighting system housed in a steel pedestal, a mixed media sculpture, and an AR animation—that work together in a scavenger hunt that engages users in an artistic quest, beginning in the “real world” and layering the digital. The story follows an artist who, visiting Arizona for the first time, interviewed desert flora and fauna but misplaced a couple of her sketchbook pages along the way. Participants are sent on a tour around the canal to reunite the sketchbook pages, interacting with desert witnesses during the journey.
How to Access AR at Canal Convergence
Before visiting the event, access your mobile device’s app store, download the Hoverlay app, and follow instructions to install the Hoverlay camera browser app on your mobile device. Search for the CanalConvergence channel to unlock these experiences at home, or look for QR codes on signs or ground stickers at the Scottsdale Waterfront and around Old Town Scottsdale. Please note: the app requires an augmented reality-capable device running iOS 13 or later or Android 7.0 or later.
