The Sources of Play is one of several public art features at the North Tempe Multi-Generational Center (NTMGC) in Tempe, Arizona. The collection of public art features together comprise Play Like a River, the public art component the NTMGC. The motto for the project is inscribed on the benches between the figures of the Sources of Play. The motto reads, ” Play is like the water that sustain all life; the joy of play nourishes the human spirit.”
The art elements of Play Like a River are connected to a riverine path that runs the full length of the NTMGC’s site from north to south, and through the building. The Sources of Play is situated at the north end of the site. Tom worked on a design team with Michael Kelly, lead architect, and Ruben Valenzuela, landscape architect, to create a municipal facility where the public art elements are threaded through and well integrated with the final site. The North Tempe Multi-Generational Center went on to win a Valley Forward’s Crescordia Award in 2006 and a Valley Forward Award of Merit in 2007.