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Inspired by comments from Neighborhood Groups as well as Trevor G Browne High School Students and the transition of use of land on this site, the improvements include several new amenities: custom sculpture, trees for shade, lighting for safety and fencing for security. 

​The team began their work on this project by meeting with neighbors of the site.  They further researched the community’s concerns by holding a workshop with over 100 students at Trevor G. Browne High School. Through these workshops, students were able to express their needs as they are the primary users of the site, passing it daily on their walk to and from school. This community work in addition to studies of historic aerials and land use helped the artist develop his concept.

Historic Aerials of this site indicate the transition of time from when the location was home to farmland. A water well is first shown in the mid 1960’s – still surrounded by farm fields. In the late 1970s and early 1980s we see the use of the land transform dramatically into densely populated neighborhood. Around this point in time, the large above ground tank well appears to have been removed as well. This transition of land use from native desert landscape to fertile farmland and again to residential neighborhood and city park inspired the artist and landscape architect to create enhancements for this park that reference the passage of time. 

​The word "tinaja" is Spanish word for earthen jar, and also identifies natural small pockets of water that sit on top of the Sonoran desert. For the artist, finding one of these pockets in the desert is always a reassuring sight, and very exciting. Therefore the title “A Time Machine Called Tinaja” references the transition of land use, water sources, and the community’s interaction with the land.  The sculptures themselves are a kind of​ passageway with glowing light and cool blue panels that mimic the look and feel of water. ​