This project was completed in partnership with the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City for the downtown business district. The series of benches, thirteen in all, are located within a three block area on Main Street.

 

The sculptural subject of Gambel’s quail reflects the commitment of Ione McKean Davis to the preservation of open space in the urban environment. Coveys of wild Gambel’s quail can be seen throughout the neighborhoods of Salt Lake City. Recognizing the wild presence of quail in the urban landscape affirms an appreciation for our fragile local ecosystem and the importance of urban open space.

Gambel’s quail are identified by their tear-drop shaped topknot, the distinct black patch on the chest of the buck, and the scaly plumage on their undersides. As ground birds in an urban environment, Gambel’s quail primarily move about by walking and can move surprisingly fast through brush and undergrowth.

Dan Gerhart named this work – a series of interior wall pieces and an outdoor sculpture along the Jordan River Parkway – after the Greek philosopher, Pythagoras. With the design based on the mathematical laws inherent in the circle, square, and triangle, the artwork relates visually to the shield or badge that identifies police officers and philosophically to the Police Department’s work to maintain order in our community.

The mathematical theories of Pythagoras were one source of inspiration for Gerhart, as were a number of other systems of the natural order and its relationship to societal order. The Mayan calendar, based on the mathematical symmetries and the basic shapes of triangles, circles and squares, provided a foundation for the development of Gerhart’s work. Many cultures share a common language of these basic shapes, with the circle often the universal symbol for harmony and order.

The indoor works – “The Triangle,” “The Circle,” “The Square,” and “Theorem” – are fabricated of bronze cast by the artist in the lost-wax technique and a variety of wood veneers. The outdoor work, “The Sphere,” is fabricated of cast bronze and polished stainless steel. Shawn Porter assisted Dan Gerhart in the fabrication and installation of the work; Larry Wheeler fabricated the stainless steel elements of the outdoor work.

Skeleton is a small (36” x 20” x 6”), ground based sculpture meant to be discovered, hidden away in the flower beds in Wasatch Hollow Park.

“The Diver” was originally installed for the swimming pool at Jordan Park in 1987, and consists of two panels, each eighteen inches high and eight feet long.  It was moved to Fairmont Park Aquatic Center in 2006 when the Jordan Park pool was transformed into a skateboard park.

The image on the frieze is of a simplified human figure beginning in a standing pose and moving through the sequence of a dive, as reference to the activities inside the Aquatic Center.