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Sculpture Garden, Phase 4 dedication is filled with history
A video of the dedication ceremony and Jones’s remarks is available online at www.yc.edu/FriendsYCArt.
Abeautiful fall day served as the perfect back- drop for the dedication of the newest phase of Yavapai College’s renowned Sculpture Garden
last November. The area was dedicated to the Yavapai- Prescott Indian Tribe, whose donation made the expansion possible.
Friends of Yavapai College Art acknowledged the tribe’s donation with a plaque featuring the tribe’s of- ficial seal of an intricately woven basket design.
A report in the Daily Courier noted, “The new section already blends in perfectly with the rest of the peace- ful five-acre property landscaped with a wide variety of plants and 10 fanciful sculptures.”
The ceremony, which drew a fine crowd of support- ers and art lovers, included comments by Yavapai- Prescott Indian Tribe President Ernie Jones, Sr., Yavapai College President Dr. Penny Wills, and Steve Walker, Executive Director of the Yavapai College Foundation and College VP for Advancement.
“About 20 years ago after the Performing Arts Center was completed, the Friends of Yavapai College Art had a dream to build this beautiful, contemporary sculpture garden right here on this campus,” Walker said at the November event. “Throughout the past
two decades, the Friends of Yavapai College Art have led the development of four construction phases, the fourth of which we are dedicating here today.” Walker pointed out that there are two additional areas for possible expansion of the garden “that the Friends will be working on in the coming years.”
Janet and Ernie Jones, Sr. from the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe join Dr. Penny Wills and YC District Governing Board member Dr. Pat McCarver in the Sculpture Garden for the dedication of Phase 4. The plaque in front of them features the tribe’s official seal of an intricately woven basket design.
Walker also noted that the tribe is the reason the College is located where it is today. The federal government was going to give part of the old Fort Whipple property to the tribe in the 1960s, Jones explained in his comments, but the tribal board of directors unanimously voted in 1967 to let the state have it for a community college instead.
“This was the Yavapai-Prescott Tribe’s land,” Dr. Wills said. “For them to offer this to the College, we are indebted to you forever,” she said addressing Jones.
Jones gave an overview of the tribe’s history, leading up to his opportunity to graduate from Yavapai College. “I really appreciate what you have done for our tribe,” he said to College officials. “My parents and grandparents always told me that you need to get an education, and that’s what we always tell our kids. This is one of the very best opportunities that I’m aware of in the state of Arizona for Native Americans to get their education, especially being called Yavapai College.”
www.yc.edu/ycf • SPRING 2015 9