Civic Space Park

Nice park to just hang out at. Lots of grassy area for kids or animals to run through. We just sat there for a while soaking up the sun and people watching. At night the tornado looking thing lights up.

This is a nice park located in the heart of downtown Phoenix that was opened in 2009. It spans about 2 and a half acres and there is not much parking available. Ironically, the park use to be a big parking lot and some old buildings. You may be able to find some nearby parking lots and some limited metered street parking. There is also a train stop right in front of it.The park is pretty much a hangout spot, with benches, green space, a community meeting room, a splash pad, a pavilion and a shelter. with tables under it. I did not see any public restrooms, playground equipment or other amenities though. It is a popular spot for the city's homeless at night at is dimly lit at night. It appeared well maintained and had visitors and ASU students waling through it. It hosts over 40 public events per year, including movie screenings, concerts, art galleries, and community yoga.The park's main feature by far is the huge sculpture that reaches high in the air. The piece, Her Secret Is Patience, is the work of Janet Echelman, and costed $2.4 million. It looks like a huge tornado or weird jelly fish. It is cool to look at during the day, but is amazing at night. It is very Instagramable.The piece is transformed to a colorful masterpiece at night by ground-mounted colored lighting. You must see it.The park is intended to give people a shaded green space to hang out at and relax. It is a borderline destination spot if you are nearby. As I mentioned, the sculpture (at night) draws you in. It is one of the most provocative, and pricey public art sculptures that I have seen.

This place is coool. My fiancé & I spontaneously drove around downtown & spotted this huge art piece! We immediately parked and walked. Looks great at night with the different colored lights. I want to come back & see how everything looks during the day.

I'd heard that Civic Space Park was a must-stop park in Phoenix, so when we found ourselves in the neighbored we made a point of visitiing; it was a disappointment.Tip: While coming here is AOK if all you're interested in is being where there's some grass, but if you want to have a truly relaxing time I'd suggest going to the gardens in Arizona Center instead.To be fair, the art work you'll find here is fairly nice, and it's not a complete waste of time to visit if you happen to be in the neighborhood, but you shouldn't make a special trip to come here.

We went at night to see the sculpture "Her secret is patience", an installation made of nets that move in the wind and glows in the dark. I think it's very cool and unique, make sure you check it out when in Phoenix!

For me, the attraction to making sure I visited this park was to see the aerial sculpture called "Her Secret is Patience". The title for this art piece was from American Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote, 'Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience.' The artist, Janet Echelman, has many aerial art installations around the world. Downtown Phoenix has one here in this park.This art is unique, beckons you to admire it, and makes you wonder what it is REALLY about. It was listed as a place to visit in Phoenix, so I decided to come see it for myself (when it got dark out). It is suspended 100 feet up in the air and is 145 feet tall! To me, it is very abstract. I stood and watched it and photographed it for about 10 minutes. There was virtually no wind, so it was still. I would have enjoyed watching it blow around in the wind. It is made out of fish netting-like material. According to a website, it also said that the lighting changes throughout the night. Well, I didn't stay anywhere near long enough for it to change even once.You know the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child"? Well, it takes a team of super talented minds to create and set the stage for the aerial art! The parking around here is tricky. I don't have any advice. I just parked in an ASU parking lot and walked across the street. It says 24-hr parking is enforced and you can pay the box. I didn't because it was just after dark. I kept my eye on the car. If you park further away, you could possibly take the Light Rail or bus here.I didn't really check out the park. I just walked up to the sculpture and left. I noticed there were chairs set out, There's lots of grass to play, sit, and walk on. From the park, you can see ASU on the buildings. This urban park has been here since 2009. I don't know why they would omit Public Restrooms and water fountains, but it is so! There is a coffee place called Fair Trade Cafe, which might have a customer restroom.This art is neat to view, even though I don't know exactly what it is! If you are in the general vicinity, come check it out! There might even be an event happening while you're here!

I appreciate urban parks as much as the next guy, but like 90% of the reviews, I came to see "Her Secret is Patience", an art installation by Janet Eschelman. Part UFO, part uterus, it's best viewed at night in blues and purples. It's pretty cool, and gradually changes shape a bit as it moves in the breeze. Otherwise, it's a pretty basic downtown park- there's a stage area for performance art and it's easily accessible by the bus and Metro stops. Unfortunately, there aren't any water fountains or public bathrooms, and parking in the area is pretty steep.

Surprisingly few reviews for such a costly project. $2.5 million cost of construction in 2009 and an undisclosed cost of replacement of the nets in 2014.The net was rather blah in person. There was not much color to it but when captured on the phone the colors looked really vibrant; an augmented reality, just like I saw it on social media. Pretty soon we will be hooked up in embryonic chambers and experiencing life through VR. Morpheus, Neo, Trinity where are you? I guess that is all that counts these days. Take some pictures so that you can brag about it on fb or some other evil social platform and all of your friends can share the experience through the tiny screens of the phone. Hopefully there will be some stroking affirmations of what a wonderful job you did taking that picture. Improvements in the quality of life is getting assymtotic, can't get any better than this I am afraid. Lol.

Literally one of my favorite parts to visit in downtown Phoenix. I referred to it as the psychedelic space tornado, but I've also heard it referred to as a jellyfish. Lol Truly unique piece of artwork that is not impressive until you see it in full of darkness.

Lovely place to admire at night, especially the "Her Secret Is Patience" installment. It changes with the wind and does have a pretty glow about it at night. The park itself is well-maintained, well lit and seems to have security around at all times. Lots of places to sit on the grass and there's a good bustle of college students nearby as well.Parking can be a bit of a struggle as there is street parking, but it's free. Definitely a great place to spend time or even just to stare at this artwork during the warm Phoenix nights.