Entry No. 54 — the Colorado Springs file — filed under: metal-sculpture
Iscariot (Octo-Maid)
A 12-foot metal sculpture of a woman fused with an octopus-mermaid hybrid — gills, fins, and tentacles — perched atop the downtown Traffic Management Center, created by artist Trace O'Connor in 2008. Most locals walk right past without ever noticing the creature looming overhead.
The story
If you drive into downtown Colorado Springs along West Colorado Avenue toward I-25, you are passing directly beneath a 4,200-pound, 12-foot-tall hybrid of a woman and an octopus perched high on a roofline. Most drivers keep their eyes on the asphalt, entirely unaware that a 19-foot-wide creature of welded scrap steel is looming over the municipal Traffic Management Center [know_before]. Built in 2008 by Fort Collins sculptor Trace O'Connor, *Iscariot*—known locally as the Octo-Maid—is constructed from recycled industrial junk, including old galvanized light poles, sprinkler pipes, mechanical tubing, plate steel, and electrical conduit.
O'Connor conceived the sculpture as an alien take on a mermaid caught mid-leap, drawing inspiration from Bernini's Renaissance lines, Italian Futurism, and Frank Lloyd Wright's cantilevers. Before landing on this municipal rooftop as part of the city's Art on the Streets public art program, the 2.1-ton beast spent time installed in Loveland, Colorado, and in outdoor exhibits back East. Why the city chose the roof of a dry, bureaucratic traffic-operations building just east of the highway to perch a tentacled sea creature is anyone's guess, but that collision of mundane municipal infrastructure and surreal industrial scrap metal is precisely what makes her work [know_before].
Because she sits atop the roofline, she escapes the notice of almost everyone who isn't explicitly looking upward [know_before]. The gills, fins, and sweeping tentacles extend out over the edge of 234 West Colorado Avenue, frozen mid-upswing above the commuter lanes. You won't find a sign at street level or a velvet rope surrounding her—just four thousand pounds of rusted steel hanging over a city parking lot [know_before].
What it's like
Arriving here feels less like visiting a public monument and more like spotting something you weren't supposed to see [know_before]. Because the building is a working city traffic facility, you can't walk inside or take an elevator up to the roof; the entire encounter happens from the sidewalk along West Colorado Avenue [know_before]. Park in the small lot below the building or walk a few blocks west from the downtown core, cross to the south side of the street for the best sightlines, and look up [know_before]. Visit around dusk when the evening light cuts against her steel silhouette, then head back east into downtown before the traffic noise takes over [date_idea, know_before].
The move: Stroll west Colorado Avenue at dusk and challenge each other to be the first to spot the tentacled creature on the rooftop, then grab drinks once one of you finds her.
📍 Before you go She perches on the roof of the city's Traffic Management Center on the north side of W. Colorado Avenue, just east of the I-25 interchange — a working city facility, so the whole encounter happens from the sidewalk, not inside. A small parking area sits off W. Colorado Ave below the building, or leave the car in the downtown core and walk a few blocks west. At 12 feet tall and 19 feet wide in 4,200 pounds of reclaimed steel, she's easy to miss only because nobody thinks to look up at a traffic-operations roofline. Pair her with America the Beautiful Park a few blocks southwest, or work back east through downtown's other Art on the Streets pieces.
- 📍 Downtown Colorado Springs
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 234 W. Colorado Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Hours: Added 2026-06-09 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Shrunken Head Tiki Bar — After spotting a metal sea creature on a roof, head underground on Tejon Street for rum drinks in a hidden tiki bar.
- The Rabbit Hole — Match the surreal rooftop monster with subterranean drinks inside a gothic lounge housed in a former city morgue.
- Novis Mortem Collective (classes by The Terrorium Shop) — If industrial tentacles appeal to your darker side, head down Tejon Street to browse oddities and taxidermy workshops.
- Van Briggle Memorial Pottery Building — Pivot from 21st-century scrap metal to historic craft by checking out this 1907 Art Nouveau tilework landmark a mile north.
Good to know
Where exactly is the Octo-Maid located?
She perches on the roof of the city's Traffic Management Center at 234 W. Colorado Ave, on the north side of the street just east of the I-25 interchange [know_before].
Can I go inside the building to see the sculpture up close?
No. The building is an active city operations facility, so you view the piece entirely from the sidewalk and parking lot below [know_before].
What materials were used to build the sculpture?
Artist Trace O'Connor built her from reclaimed industrial materials, including galvanized steel light poles, sprinkler piping, mechanical tubing, plate steel, and electrical conduit.
How large is the sculpture?
She stands 12 feet tall, spans 19 feet wide, and weighs 4,200 pounds [know_before].
Is there an entrance fee or specific viewing hours?
No. She is a piece of outdoor public street art visible from the sidewalk 24 hours a day for free [know_before].
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: fox21news.com · downtowncs.com · peakradar.com · boldjourney.com · publicartarchive.org
last checked: 2026-06-09