Salt Lake City Public Art Program

Connecting people to place and place to stories since 1984

Thread, Trail, Rope and Yarn

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Thread, Trail, Rope and Yarn celebrates the landscape and cultures of the Salt Lake valley. Native, pioneer and modernist traditions intersect and overlap as illustrated by the shared practice of weaving. Threads, short and long, colored in shades found in the high desert, represent the many journeys made, to make this valley what it is today.

This public art project was funded by the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City. Special thanks to the Salt Lake Art Design Board, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, and Salt Lake City Corporation for their assistance with this project.

Claim it! Project

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Claim it! is a multi-year project in which various youth art collectives, guided by artists and educators, spent months exploring the theme of “Claim it” and conceptualizing public artwork that expresses who they are as artists and what is important to them, their families, and communities.

The project began when Megan Hallet, a Civic Arts Curator, held community engagement activities to collect concepts and ideas from the public at libraries and community events. In addition, three teaching artists worked with youth groups to shape the ideas of the community and develop their own ideas into youth-produced artworks and exhibit pieces.  Working with the University of Utah School of Architecture, students had the opportunity to learn about the Westside Master Plan and the connections between three art installation sites—the Sorenson Unity Center, the Oxbow at the 9th South River Park, and the Pump Track. Two community exhibits were mounted to share student artwork, installation models, and Westside Master Plan connections with the public. As the project progressed, the Sorenson Unity Center staff managing the grant worked with Salt Lake City Corporation’s Public Art Program and selected artist Donna Pence to commission three public art pieces. Ms. Pence worked closely with various youth groups to develop designs for the artworks that incorporated their ideas into fully-formed installations.

The first of three installations, “Three Totems” is a series of three totem sculptures representing the three locations and the claims made by the community for physical, spiritual, and communal needs. The Sorenson sculpture is a response to the claims for books, home, family, and music. The Pumptrack totem depicts the physical in the form of bicycles, food trucks, and healthy living. The Oxbow sculpture symbolizes the spiritual in nature through birds, fish, the river, and vegetation. The totem themes and concept were influenced by artworks created in the beginning stages of the Claim it! project. The content reflected in the totems were informed by a short documentary chronicling the project by Kerri Hopkins, while Liz Bunker’s use of stacked cubes to exhibit student art and ideas of how families interact informed the totem concept. The totem series installation has been completed on the Sorenson Campus.

The second installation, “Nature’s Chill Space” was installed at the Ila and Rose Fife Wetlands Preserve from April, 2017 to November, 2018, and reflected the community’s desire for a place to gather, reflect, and talk in a natural setting. The piece consisted of three benches with shade structures and an in-ground mosaic representing a fire pit, following the oxbow shape of the river at the preserve. Benches of native cherry and walnut were shaded by canvases painted with bird imagery from the refuge and supported by teepee poles.

The last installation, “An Assignment of Claims” was installed in June, 2017, directly adjacent to a new bicycle pump track and community garden, along the Nine Line transportation corridor. Drawn from claims and artwork from Latinos In Action students, and playing with concepts of transportation and communication, the piece is comprised of a cluster of twenty signs mounted on steel posts to imitate traffic signs, but with community claims, e.g. “I claim my culture and unity within my community.”

This public art project was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Salt Lake City Public Art Program. Special thanks to the Sorenson Unity Center, Youth City, Salt Lake Art Design Board, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, and Salt Lake City Corporation for their assistance with this project.

Salt Lake City Sidewalk Medallion – Beehive

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This medallion design uses two primary graphic elements symbolic of Salt Lake City—mountains and a honeycomb. The hexagonal honeycomb and the three bees refer to Utah’s state motto—”industry”—representative of the state’s commitment to progress and hard work. In this depiction, some of the honeycomb cells are filled and others remain open, correlating to the all of the work that has been accomplished in Salt Lake City, while acknowledging the work that is yet to be done.

McClelland Trail Sculptures

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Each of the four abstract sculptures (Cascade, Cog, Spurt, and Trough) found on the McClelland Trail have gear-like qualities referencing the early engineering and rudimentary tools used to create the original canal. Water has been flowing through the Jordan and Salt Lake City Canal for over 100 years, reaching various pockets of Salt Lake City.

The McClelland Trail runs between 1100 East and 1200 East, between Harrison Avenue and Milton Avenue (1370 South – 1595 South)

This public art project was funded through Salt Lake City’s Public Art Program. Special thanks to the Salt Lake Art Design Board, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake City Corporation, Parks and Public Lands, and members of the Review Committee for their assistance with this project.

Flowing Currents

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An abstraction of water, wind, traffic, and pedestrian flow of currents and migration patterns occurring above and below Interstate 15, this 400-foot painted steel sculpture is mounted to a retaining wall at the 1300 South and I-15 intersection.

This public art project was funded by the Salt Lake City Engineering Division. Special thanks to the Salt Lake Art Design Board, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, and Salt Lake City Corporation for their assistance with this project.

Imagine

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Located on the large loading dock door on the south side of the Eccles Theater, Traci O’Very Covey’s mural vibrantly asks the viewer to envision all of the possible art, dance, theater, and musical performances occurring within the walls of the new structure.

This public art project was funded by the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City. Special thanks to the Salt Lake Art Design Board, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, and Salt Lake City Corporation for their assistance with this project.

Utah Animals, Birds, and Dinosaurs

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Using “new growth” as their theme, the artist team of Nate Srok and William R. Littig, used contemporary natural wildlife and dinosaurs native to Utah as their inspiration to integrate artwork into Salt Lake City’s Redwood Meadows Park.

Animals: Elk, Moose, Bison, Marmot, Mouse, Deer, Raccoon, Cougar, Bear, Squirrel

Birds: Crow, Swallow, Magpie, Scrub Jay, Pelican, Heron, Woodpecker, Hawk, Vulture, Sparrow, Blackbid, Mallard, Gull, Turkey, Killdeer, Owl, Kestrel, Sage Grouse, Tanager

Dinosaurs: Pterosaur, Nasutoceratops, Allosaurus, Saltasaurus, Stegosaurus, Archaeopteryx, Torosaurus

This public art project was funded through a Community Development Block Grant. Special thanks to the Salt lake Art Design Board, the Salt Lake City Council, Salt Lake City Corporation, Housing and Neighborhood Development, Parks and Public Lands, Salt Lake City Division of Engineering and members of the Review Committee for their assistance with this project.

500 West Park Blocks

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Landmark Design headed a multi-disciplinary team in the development of the 500 West Park Block in Salt Lake City’s Gateway District. Previously, Landmark Design headed a multi-disciplinary team in the development of the Gateway District Land Use and Development Plan, which set the urban design and land use planning vision for the area. The project was was completed in two, two-block phases. The design includes large and small public gathering spaces, walkways and gardens, open lawn gathering areas, sculpture, an innovative children’s play area, a water feature, visual and literary art, a water conservation demonstration garden that depicts Utah landscapes from the mountains to the deserts, and many unique sculptural features incorporated into the overall design. It is the centerpiece of the Gateway District. Landmark Design was responsible for planning, design, construction documents, and construction administration services for both phases of development.

STONE MARKERS Stone markers along the walkway inscribed with poetry by Katie Coles. Research and subject matter by Bri Matheson.

WATER FEATURE Poetry by Katie Coles, inscribed in stone around water feature. Railroad track paving pattern by Day Christensen and Bonnie Sucec.

CHILDREN’S GARDEN Broken Stones, Spiral Pathway, and Raised Sculpted Silhouettes. Layout and design by Day Christensen, Bonnie Sucec and Landmark Design.

LIGHT SCULPTURES Layout and design by Landmark Design, Bri Matheson and Kit Farley of Key Engineering.

RIO GRANDE DEPOT MID-STREET PLAZA Poetry by Katie Coles, inscribed in stone benches.

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