These murals depict the strength and internal beauty of Salt Lake City which is intuitively implied through color, light, movement, gestures, and the content: land, city and people intertwined harmoniously. Chacón has long been a proponent of community involvement in her artwork; this is a collaboration between the artist, Mestizo Arts and Activism Collective and its youth researchers, Mestizo Institute of Culture and Arts, Mestizo Coffeehouse, 500+ community members, writers, and artist apprentices. Artist apprentices analyzed data from surveys they distributed in the community and created images for Chacón to translate and paint onto aluminum panels; forming the murals. Using the imagery as their inspiration, four community poets, including an 11 year-old boy, created the written works. The survey data helped inform the three themes represented in the murals: Past, Present, Future in the Arts; Education / Experiential Knowledge; Working Together / Building Utah.

Crystal Light encompasses 2,500 square feet of intricately etched glass and a response to the energy of the people of Salt Lake City using the dramatic weather as metaphor. Water in its different states embodies the energy exchange at the heart of this vibrant city as the ice and salt crystals and spectacular lightening storms are woven together. The structures of matter and energy patterns converge. Crystal Light responds to the shifting lights and colors of the surroundings. The sky and clouds become a part of the work as the etched forms are seen against this dramatic backdrop of light and color. At night, the viewer experiences a carefully choreographed lighting program that moves with the escalator and elevator.

Just as the Intermodal Hub connects many modes of transportation, Sato’s sculptures connect the many elements of this site:  train platforms, bus drop-offs, plazas and planters, buildings and open space. Sato stated about the Intermodal Hub project, “I am particularly interested in how transit facilities can make a contribution to the character of a place , as well as reflecting its immediate context and larger region.  The intermodal aspect is especially interesting, as it brings in elements of intersection, transference and change, all ideas that have been fundamental to much of my art thinking.”

With the assistance of Metal Arts Foundry, Sato’s vision combined the classic materials of bronze and stone to create suitcases, briefcases, trunks and other “carrying elements” associated with travel. Each sculpture is unique; together they tell the story of how we carry our belongings, identity, work and history with us as we move. There are a total of fifteen sculptures that can be found on the plaza, on the FrontRunner platform and on the TRAX platform.

An iconic sculpture reflects this station’s title and location, near the Clark Planetarium. Adams arrived at a modified sphere to communicate a version of our universe, beautifully crafted of stainless steel and resting on a base of Utah sandstone. The sphere has represented the Universe to many peoples in many eras. Adams’ version includes elegant details of the fabricated stainless mesh with the support bars adapted into the sculpture itself. As a crowning element, the rim of the sphere sports cast bronze stars, completing the allusion to our planet and its relationship to the endless sky above.

Old Greek Town TRAX Station given its name, in part, to recognize the Greek immigrants, the largest population of people who lived and worked in the neighborhood for years. The underlying design used by the artist is based on machine gears; serving as symbols of progress and relating to the industrial and railroad history of this area.

Konopasek designed the tree grates, a painted metal element running across the upper portion of the glass windscreens and a freestanding sculpture, all tied together by this image of gears. In a broader sense, Konopasek extends the concept of the gears to represent how the universe is made from small individual parts that work together in unison. The work is fabricated metal, some of it deliberately rusted to lend a sense of time past, some of it painted for a more contemporary look toward the future.

 

A graceful and powerful welcome to the University of Utah campus, Flame Figure blends an ideal sense of the human form with the elemental energy of fire. Light, air and woven bronze alloy define a space that is both internal and external – massive, yet yielding.  The towering figures reaches skyward, an inspired representation of human endeavor.

The sculpture at this station is conceptually tied to the fractal geometry and the mathematics of what the eye cannot visibly see in the daily journey of coming and going. The “mechanical still life” represents the journey and the enormous effect the wheel has had upon the world and Salt Lake City. It is the notion of the wheel defining “the place” along the way, or the final destination of the traveler. The psychic relationship between the “box of air and the tension of its jumbled wheel contents are the overlaid images of a daydream – the inner workings of the brain . . .” 

The neighborhood is at the foundation of the artwork integrated into all elements of the Trolley Station. The artists used ideas and images generated from a series of workshops they conducted with Central City youths and seniors. They were translated into mosaics, granite pavers, glass art and more. The Central City community is rich in history and the art workshops provided the opportunity for residents to share that history – and their dreams for the future –  and see them transformed into permanent and colorful works of art.