We missed a few of the Red Ball’s stops in Scottsdale this past week—a combination of bad planning and misreading of its schedule. We would have loved to have seen it at the Arabian Library, a cool new library that has an odd entry-way that would be perfect for the Red Ball.

We caught up with the Red Ball as it sat (was perched?) in a Ramada at Pinnacle Peak Park. The park was busy with hikers and climbers wanting to make their way up the mountain. Yes, we have mountains in the desert.  Next stop will be at a senior center in Scottsdale (which we will miss) with other stops in Downtown/Old Scottsdale later in the week as it gets closer to Super Bowl 42.

The first stop in Scottsdale for The RedBall Project was The Marshall Way Trolley Bridge. In the background is the Scottsdale Waterfront (I kid you not). We really do have a waterfront.

Circled in red on our calendars was our first Big Event of 2008: The RedBall Project. The RedBall is a large red ball (obviously) made of PVC that moves from city to city (and in Scottsdale within the city) and sits in various locations awaiting interaction. Or not. The Red Ball is public art and an experiment in human interaction. From what we read, as the ball has visited such ports of call as Portland, Sydney and Barcelona, some folks gently touch it while others try and pound on it. Part of the fun over the next few days will be observing the Red Ball locally (and how folks in these parts interact with it) as it moves from downtown Scottsdale to a skate park up near our part of the city to a new library to … well, you will have to tune in later to see where it’s headed next and how it fared.

We were lucky enough to meet Kurt Perschke, the artist behind the RedBall Project.  This first clip has some thoughts from Perschke on the RedBall Project.