When entering from the east side of the Phoenix Convention Center’s North Building, one is greeted by a series of large handshakes adorning the exterior wall. The artwork, titled “Arizona Handshake” was installed in November 2008 and remains a significant focal point for the facility.
The piece, created by artist Stephen Farley, features a series of 20 people from a range of backgrounds—from a farmworker to the Monsignor of Yuma – shaking hands.
“The idea behind ‘Arizona Handshake’ is the idea that the handshake is a symbol of wellness, of learning more about somebody different than you, of bridging gaps,” Farley said. “A big part of what it is all about is knowing who is behind the photos, and it’s all types of Arizonans and people of unexpected pairings shaking hands.”
Represented in the work of art are: a kindergarten teacher shaking hands with a kindergarten student, the Monsignor of Yuma shaking hands with a farmworker, a member of the Hopi tribe shaking hands with a member of the Navajo tribe, a copper miner shaking hands with a mining company vice president, and so on.
Farley said
the piece, along with his other artworks across the state of Arizona and beyond, honor everyday people.
“I want people to be able to look at something and see themselves in it,” Farley
said. In fact, one of Farley’s favorite aspects of his work is when someone comes up to him and says they are in a photo or see a relative in a photo.
“People see their own relatives up there,” Farley said of
“Arizona Handshake.” “People recognize those hands and see themselves up there somehow, larger than life.”
He attributes some of that recognition to the life-like method he uses to create his art.
“Arizona Handshake” employs the use of Tilography, a method created by Farley wherein the photos are converted through custom software into lines defining the boundaries of eight shades of gray which are then silkscreened onto ceramic tiles and glazed by hand. He said when he came up with this medium, he wanted to create something that had more depth to it than a billboard or a photograph.
“It’s incredibly labor-intensive, but up close you can feel it,” Farley said. “It’s textural, and it lasts.”
One of the handshakes that stands out to Farley is one between two of the first Phoenix Convention Center employees.
“I love being able to have this work at the Convention Center,” Farley said. “I like the symbol of a handshake, and since it’s at the Convention Center, there are going to be people doing a lot of shaking hands and meeting people from around the country, from around the world. I love what it says about the Convention Center and about Arizona and how it represents everyone in the community.”
Farley serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. He has works of art across the country and several installations in both Phoenix and Tucson.