OCTOBER 2025
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| VOL 20 ISSUE 10 | OCTOBER 2025 |
I took a field trip with my 10th grade Spanish class to Mexico in 1982. As a 15-year-old kid, I was fascinated with ancient cultures and was thrilled seeing the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon at Teotehuacan and the Aztec Calendar at the National Anthropology Museum. Forty-three years later I'm still fascinated so I decided to come back to revisit Mexico. My wife and I had tickets to actually fly over the pyramides in a hot air balloon at sunrise, but the wind was too high that day so we did Teotihuacan by foot and climbed half way up the Pyramid of the Moon. We stayed at the Gran Hotel Ciudad de Mexico (with the immaculate stained glass ceiling) located in the central district of the city known as the Zocolo. The balcony of Terraza Restaurant of our hotel overlooked the huge Constitution Plaza. The night we arrived, there were swarms of police in riot gear after protests and on our last day, a huge crowd filled the plaza to hear the president speak in front of the National Palace...Yes, I added a photo of one more international capital building to my collection!
We were only there for an extended weekend, but other highlights included Chapultepec (including Chapultepec Castle and the Museum of Anthropology), The Palace of Fine Arts (pictured above as seen from the cafe in Sears tower), Angel of Independence statue, Plaza Mayor, Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Monument to the Revolution.
Two of my lighting projects with Creative Designs in Lighting were completed this month. First is Pinyon, a high-end Mediteranean cuisine restaurant located on the Scottsdale Civic Plaza right next to the popular AZ 88 Restaurant. My wife and I were honored to be invited to the friends and family preview before the public grand opening and the food was delicious. I highly recommend the hummus, the Loup de mer (sea bass prepared on the Barcelona josper), and the bananas foster to top it all off. This restaurant is brought to you by the team operating the Buck and Rider restaurants and they meticulously go over every detail to make the ambiance and cullinary delights an experience that you're bound to enjoy.
Next is the new amenity center that we designed for the Pulte Del Webb active adult community in Vail, Arizona known as Rocking K. I've worked with the design team of Nelsen Partners Architects and Kimberly Timmons Interiors of quite a few clubhouse projects and we really have our collaboration 'dialed in,' but I'm always amazed at how unique each one feels. I had the opportunity this month to go to the site for the final 'aim and focus' of all of the architectural light fixtures where we make sure all of the art work is highlighted and the architecture and furnishings are accented with light. You can check out more of my photos from this project on the CDL website at https://cdltg.com/portfolio/rocking-k-amenity-center/ .
In addition to the IES award received earlier this year, the Heard Museum Shop Project has received two more honors this month. First, it was recognized at the Award Ceremony for Iconic Life Magazine and received the Silver Award for Excellence in Architecture Lighting. These awards were held at the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts and PHX Architecture also received an award for the project in the Architectural Renovation category.
Secondly, the project received an Honorable Mention in the LIT LIGHTING DESIGN AWARDS in the 'Visitor Experience & Museum Exhibition' category. This is quite an honor knowing that there were over 1,000 entries from 62 countries around the globe.
https://litawards.com/winners/winner.php?id=2450&mode=hm
One of the brands of light fixtures used on this project was Lumini and they have featured some of my photography on their website in the Project Portfolio Gallery ( link - https://www.luminii.com/gallery/the-heard-museum-store/ ).
And lastly, this project was featured recently in Native American Art Magazine (link - https://www.nativeamericanartmagazine.com/issues/55/A-New-Chapter )
December 6th - The Mesa Book Festival - Solo Acoustic Gig (Ed Clapper and Roger Wiedabach will also be doing sets)
December 6th - Chandler Parade of Lights - In full Grinch prosthetic make-up on a parade float
E-ya later,
Mark Greenawalt
Mark@MarkGreenawalt.com
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