If you look down while walking through part of the North Building at the Phoenix Convention Center, you’ll notice a familiar landscape.
“A Moment at the Narrows” terrazzo artwork by artist Troy Moody was inspired, Moody said, by a hike he took in northern Arizona.
“I was in my head about the project, it was my first large-scale public art piece, and I was nervous,” Moody said. “My wife very wisely suggested we get out of the house and go for a hike. ‘A Moment at the Narrows’ refers to a random, cherished moment in an area along Oak Creek Canyon. When people say the narrows, they are generally referring to a specific spot where a canyon tightens, and a trail narrows. I had this moment of standing at the foot of these towering red rock cliffs, arching my back to follow the stone contours up to the skyline above and I knew that’s what I had to do.”
The artwork is reflective of that moment, the color of the terrazzo simulates the multiple hues of rock, the shimmering blue sky above and blue creek water below.
“I wanted it to appear so that you got a stylized illusion of the sky reflecting the water and the water reflecting the sky,” Moody said.
The terrazzo was a first for Moody, though he had experience in stained glass and he saw similarities between the two. Both use strips of metal to divide fields of color. Terrazzo uses a pallet of colored resin and aggregate like recycled glass, mirror, marble, granite and river rock. Moody said the color is separated by zinc strips which can further be used as expressive design elements.
“As a designer, my experience with stained glass directly informed the aesthetic I brought to the project,” Moody said. “And as a craftsman, I appreciated working through the creation process on site with the crew from our local contractor, Advanced Terrazzo.”
Moody said seeing the artwork today makes him proud.
“I have enjoyed over the last 18 years, with all the diverse events at the Convention Center, I like to spy and see who might be walking across my floor, from cosplay to dignitaries,” Moody said. “One time President Obama was in the building, and I saw footage of him stroll across that terrazzo. It was amazing.”
Visit “A Moment at the Narrows” in the North Building, just look down!