Salt Lake City Public Art Program

Connecting people to place and place to stories since 1984

Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Murals (Popperton Park Trailhead)

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The Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Murals public art project features 10 unique bike rack murals painted by local artists, celebrating the ecological importance and rich natural and cultural diversity of Salt Lake City’s Foothills. These murals incorporate imaginative art elements, offering visitors a visually rewarding experience at the trailheads.

This project spans two locations: the Bonneville Boulevard Trailhead and Popper Park Trailhead at 1401 Popperton Park Way. These trailheads serve as major confluences and urban interfaces for the Foothills trails, connecting several Salt Lake City landmarks, including the Avenues neighborhood, the Utah State Capitol, and the University of Utah. We encourage you to explore both trailheads to see all 10 bike rack murals. Each bike rack features a sego lily cutout in the tires, designed by local artist Derek Ballard.

This project was made possible through the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program, with support from the Salt Lake Art Design Board, Salt Lake City’s Department of Public Lands, community stakeholders, and the artists.

Photo 1.1 – 1.2: Chuck Berrett
Photo 2.1 – 2.2: Sri Whipple
Photo 3.1 – 3.2: Elizabeth Carrington
Photo 4.1 – 4.2: Evan Jedd Memmott

View the other location of the Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Murals at Bonneville Boulevard.

Photo Credit: Logan Sorenson

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Sidewalk Poetry: Senses of Salt Lake City

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What do you notice when you explore your neighborhood, the things you see, hear, smell, or feel? What stays with you when you spend time along the Jordan River Parkway, hike the Bonneville Shoreline, wander through City Creek Canyon, or visit other cherished public spaces in Salt Lake City?

For the Sidewalk Poetry: Senses of Salt Lake City project, the Salt Lake City Public Art Program chose 20 short poems inspired by the prompt, “How do you experience Salt Lake City?” from 20 Salt Lake City based writers.  The project invited writing in both English and Spanish, celebrating the beauty of the city’s urban and natural environments and honoring the diverse communities and individuals who call Salt Lake City home.

The 20 selected writers are John Boyack, Paulina Burnside, Nicolas Contreras, Pablo Cruz-Ayala, Tim Glenn, Kelly Goff, Holly Henderson, Aristotle Johns, Jasmine Khaliq, Cash Mendenhall, Jack Myhre, Arianna Rees, Joe Roberts, Nan Seymour, Samantha Shelley, Zachary Schwing, Keira Shae, Samantha da Silva, César Urbizu-Rodarte, and Susan J. Wurtzburg.

Photo 1.1 – 1.2: Jasmin Khaliq
Photo 2.1 – 2.2: Aristotle Johns
Photo 3.1 – 3.2:  Arianna Rees
Photo 4.1 – 4.2:  Samantha da Silva
Photo 5.1 – 5.2:  Kelly Goff
Photo 6.1 – 6.2: Holly Henderson
Photo 7.1 – 7.2:  Zach Schwing
Photo 8.1 – 8.2:  Jack Myhre

This project was made possible through the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program, with support from the Salt Lake City Streets department, community stakeholders including current Utah Poet Laureate, Lisa Bickmore, Artes de México en Utah’s Poetry and Literature Coordinator, Aaron Garcia, and fellow juror for Sor Juana Poetry Contest, Lina Vega-Morrison, and the Salt Lake Art Design Board.

8 of the 20 poems have been stamped across Salt Lake City. The remaining poems will be stamped in the Spring of 2026.

Photo credit: Salt Lake City Corp

 

The mountain is so pale, today--

Any color


You suggest,

It takes

Located: 1775 W New Hampshire Ave

Jasmine Khaliq is a Pakistani Mexican poet born and raised in Northern California. She holds a BA from San Francisco State University and an MFA from the University of Washington, Seattle. Currently, Jasmine is a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City where she lives with her partner Victor and Lucy, their beautiful dog.

clouds will hold themselves above

this ground where you are

another sort of sky

Located: Northshore Dr & Northview St

Aristotle Johns is a writer from Colorado. He lives in Salt Lake City, where he is pursuing a PhD in creative writing. Aristotle owes all and anything he is to his family and best friends.

Downtown blushes heartbeat red

at the nip of winter,

infant flakes race the train

Located: 500 S 1200 E

Located: 600 S 1200 E

Arianna Rees is a social media manager and writer who grew up in Cache Valley but now calls Salt Lake City home. When she isn't staring at a blank screen, willing words to appear, she can be found hiking in the Cottonwoods, enjoying a good film at The Broadway, or spending too much money at The King’s English.

Rooted here, heart whispers ‘home."

Located: Rosewood Park, 1400 N 1200 W

Samantha da Silva (b.1978) is a Brazilian-born artist based in Salt Lake City, UT. Shaped by migration and a desire to create, she's moved over 40 times due to natural disasters and life circumstances. Her large-scale relief sculptures, resembling topographic maps and cracked earth, explore themes of belonging and resourcefulness. An educator, she's taught globally and featured in Architectural Digest and HGTV.

The Oquirrhs in the distance

Held aloft by a corral of clouds.

Quickly now before the wind picks up.

Located: 800 W Lucy Ave

Kelly Goff is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Salt Lake City. Goff’s art practice observes how women are treated and how we experience the world. Consistent themes of exploration include power dynamics, domesticity, beauty standards and female reproductive health. The human body figures prominently in her work. Her sculptural and installation work has been exhibited locally and out of state.

Even the mountains are cheering you on.

Located: 9th Ave & J St

Holly Henderson is an artist and writer living in Salt Lake City. She creates mixed media artwork that combines words and imagery to tell a story of the shared human experience and connectedness we all experience. She is greatly inspired by family, nature, life, and love.

Dry dust salt sea westwind,

Sun chase dew rise scrub oak,

And wet pine give race.


Located: 2577 E Nottingham Way

Zach Schwingworked for almost a decade as a bicycle messenger in downtown Salt Lake City. He is currently writing and illustrating a work of hyper-modernist fiction featuring his fictional messenger persona “Hotspur.” Publication of the first novella is slated for summer/autumn 2024.

quiet eyes gaze west, there,

the jagged mountains slash through purple skies


Located: 2233 S 2000 E

Jack Myhre grew up in the shadow of the Rwenzori Mountains before periods in central North Carolina and England slowly wore him down with their empty horizons. His heart yearned for elevation again and he found his way back to jagged contour lines, this time in Utah, where he spends his time taking pictures and making pasta, pizza, and pottery.

Humpback Arcoíris – rock rojo, montaña mauve, cerulean nos lleva sky-high /

Rainbow Humpback – red rock, mauve mountain, cerulean carries us sky-high

Susan J. Wurtzburg received 1st place in the Elizabeth M. Campbell Poetry Award, 2022. She was a semi-finalist in the Crab Creek Review Poetry Competition 2022, and in the Naugatuck River Review's 14th Narrative Poetry Contest, 2022. Wurtzburg was a Community Poet in the Spring 2023 Poetry Workshop, Westminster College. Her poetry may be found online and in print.

Escucho tu constante murmurar apaciguar el bullicio, sonorizas mi paz rio Jordan /

I hear your constant murmuring calm the bustle, you sound my peace Jordan river

Born and raised in Tampico, México, father of three tender souls, César Urbizu-Rodarte immigrated two decades ago to Salt Lake City; he is a musician and a writer by conviction and a postman by career, a lover of mountain trails accompanied by his dogs, and at home, a tired soccer player enjoying a book with his cats purring on his lap.

Dragonflies summon me to apricot skies

As the river cuts the ribbon

Samantha Shelley is a writer and content creator from Essex, England. She loves cats, the library, and swimming in mountain lakes.

You are Here.

You’ll find:

Human voice, a Sacred wild,

Broad streets &

Bearded grain.

Keira Shae (M. Ed.) is a deaf Salt Lake author. She published a memoir, How the Light Gets In, with BCC in 2018. It chronicles her childhood with an uneducated mother addicted to methamphetamines and the Utah foster family that changed her life. She is a counselor for children and a proud mother of three sons.

A basin yearning to be full again,

a great lake dreaming herself whole again.

Nan Seymour is a lake-facing poet who has led community vigils on behalf of the imperiled Great Salt Lake throughout the last three Utah State legislative sessions. She assembled the praise poem called Irreplaceable, a collective love letter to the lake containing over 400 individual voices.

To the mountains, our city

must seem a herd of hills

that somehow hum and shine.

Joe Roberts lives in Salt Lake City. His work has been featured in Tiny Seed Press, Haikuniverse, petrichor magazine, and the Rocky Mountain Revival Podcast. His first chapbook, Anathema, will be published in 2024. With his free time, Joe writes music reviews for SLUG Magazine, takes communion at local coffee shops, and hikes the Wasatch Front with his partner, Brooke.

An emerald band between thirst and drowning /

Between narratives

Between homelands

Cash Mendenhall is a senior at West High School and was born and raised in Salt Lake City. He is interested in adapting our city to confront climate change and an increasingly tenuous relationship with our natural resources.

Among peaks

I am a brother and a queen

a dreaming anticline

inciting revelry

& peace

Tim Glenn is a museum professional and cultural sector enthusiast from Salt Lake City. He spends most of his time thinking about what he said in therapy the week before. He maintains a creative practice that currently revolves around single panel cartoons, mildly humorous (and mildly serious) poems, and drawing every coffee shop in SLC. In the past, Tim has also found success writing fiction, strongly worded letters, songs, typo-filled emails, and Dad-jokes.

Undocumented, yet undeterred,

In every footstep, a story conferred.

Pablo Cruz-Ayala explores the intersections between their Mexican/American heritage, and status as an undocumented immigrant through visual art. Currently studying Biomedical Engineering and Painting at the University of Utah, after which they hope to pursue a medical degree. They aim to continue nurturing and strengthening professional art and stem resources in Utah through community and research.

A cement valley with a blossom

always waiting to burst over its desert sky.

Nicolas Contreras is an American poet and artist, originally from Mar del Plata, Argentina — though He's called Utah his home for many years. As someone who values the work it takes to make a place home, he was most excited that the selections for this project would be in public spaces, for all to come across them and enjoy.

The Range eyes my

southbound course.

Sneakers are roots that move.

Paulina Burnside was born and raised in the high desert mountains of northern New Mexico educated near the U.S./Mexican borderlands. Exploring spaces by foot, bicycle, or imagination takes up most of her time.

Love is a sapling's effort

Canvas, concrete

A park bench

The corner fleur

Con ganas de conocerte

(Looking forward to meeting you)

Loving father, poet, and children's book author. Born in Seattle, John Boyack relocated to Salt Lake City in 2001 and enrolled at the University of Utah earning BA degrees in English and Political Science, and a master's degree in public administration. He loves reading, hiking, and creating with his daughter Hattie and thanks Miriam, his lightning bolt, for inspiring this poe.

What We Build Together

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“… for culture is a pyramid to which each of us brings a stone.”
—Wallace Stegner, The American West as Living Space

What We Build Together challenges traditional ideas of power by placing community members at the top. The figures represent the neighbors whose quiet strength forms the backbone of Fairpark. Anchored in Monsoon’s personal connection to the area, the sculpture serves as both tribute and mirror — reflecting the intergenerational spirit of the community. A plaque at its base reads “Fairpark | SLC,” grounding the work in place and pride. Deeply rooted in the Fairpark’s cultural fabric, Monsoon’s work was shaped by community input, inspired by shared values, and honors common people, especially youth and elders, whose resilience and wisdom often go unrecognized.

“As a Fairpark resident, I wanted to create something that makes my community proud and honors the many everyday unsung heroes who live here,” said Monsoon. “It’s a tribute to the grandparents, neighbors, teachers, and friends who make this neighborhood special. I placed the figures atop an inverted pyramid to represent the idea of ‘power to the people,’ and I hope everyone sees a bit of themselves in it.”

The site was identified for public art funding in December 2022 by the Salt Lake Art Design Board, in partnership with Salt Lake City Transportation, as part of a broader traffic calming effort along 500 North. Ahead of the 2023 artist call, the City’s Civic Engagement Team led a public survey, gathering input from over 240 residents and stakeholders that shaped the tone and direction of the future artwork.

The project is managed by the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program in collaboration with the City’s Transportation and Engineering Divisions, with support from Civic Engagement, Metal Arts Foundry, and the Salt Lake Art Design board, Fairpark residents and community stakeholders played a vital role throughout the process.

Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Murals (Bonneville Blvd. Trailhead)

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The Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Murals public art project features 10 unique bike rack murals painted by local artists, celebrating the ecological importance and rich natural and cultural diversity of Salt Lake City’s Foothills. These murals incorporate imaginative art elements, offering visitors a visually rewarding experience at the trailheads.

This project spans two locations: the Bonneville Boulevard Trailhead and Popper Park Trailhead at 1401 Popperton Park Way. These trailheads serve as major confluences and urban interfaces for the Foothills trails, connecting several Salt Lake City landmarks, including the Avenues neighborhood, the Utah State Capitol, and the University of Utah. We encourage you to explore both trailheads to see all 10 bike rack murals*. Each bike rack features a sego lily cutout in the tires, designed by local artist Derek Ballard.

This project was made possible through the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program, with support from the Salt Lake Art Design Board, Salt Lake City’s Department of Public Lands, community stakeholders, and the artists.

Photo 1.1 – 1.2: Xander Brickey
Photo 2.1 – 2.2: Eric Fairclough
Photo 3.1 – 3.2: Valerie Jar
Photo 4.1 – 4.2: Bill Louis
Photo 5.1- 5.2: Caro Nilsson
Photo 6.1 6.2: Brooklyn Ottens

View the other location of the Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Murals at Popperton Park Trailhead.

Photo Credit: Logan Sorenson

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Xander Brickey


"The mural was inspired by the ecology of the Salt Lake foothills. It depicts friendly honeybees collecting pollen from sunflowers and elephant’s heads—both native Utah flowers."

Eric Fairclough


"My inspiration for my bike rack mural comes from the many years spent exploring the mountains and foothills of Salt Lake City. The muted, earth tone color pallette is meant to reflect the experience of hiking the trails above the city. I wanted something that was bold in the pattern work but that also blended in with the surroundings. Really happy with how it turned out and excited to see it installed and ready for use. "

Valerie Jar

"This design is based on my experiences trail running in the foothills—I wanted to capture the moments where day shifts to night, so one side shows the landscape in bright daylight and the other shows the lower contrast side of the night."

Bill Louis


“The inspiration behind my artwork stems from my culture and the sunset in the Islands with palm trees. From the base that represents bamboo, coconut husk seat and fishing hook for handle bars. All these elements are inspired by Polynesian and Island culture. I wanted to have more Pacific Islander representation here in Utah as their is a growing community here. "

Caro Nilsson


"This bikerack is a celebration of the neighbors we have up in the foothills - the absolute joy of paintbrush exploding in colors that almost vibrate. I want us to remember that the simple act of our noticing, our awe, has the power to make the world around us that much more vibrant."

Brooklyn Ottens


"My mural design was heavily influenced by the presence of the Sego Lily cut into the middle of each wheel. As our state flower, I really wanted the Sego Lily to be the star of the show, so I used simple colors and heavy lines to accentuate the flower to create a vintage, pop art style bike rack."

Bridges Over Barriers

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Bridge Over Barriers is a long-term public art project launched in 2005 by NeighborWorks Salt Lake as part of a neighborhood-building initiative for Salt Lake City’s West Side. Led by Lily Yeh of Barefoot Artists, this project brought together countless local artists and neighborhood residents to create one of Utah’s largest public art projects. Through mosaic and stain concrete murals, the artwork reflects the spirit of the community, inspired by the lives and stories of those who call this neighborhood home. Many residents participated in its creation through workshops held in local churches, schools, community centers, and other spaces.

On the north side, Mother Earth symbolizes the nurturing spirit of Salt Lake City’s natural landscape and resilient communities, representing life and growth. Father Time, on the south side, honors the past while guiding the community forward. Together, they invite reflection on the cycles of life, the passage of time, and our shared role in building a connected and inclusive community. The images in each of the sixteen mosaic-covered columns were determined by the various communities of this area and brought to life by participating artists. The mosaic images depict the diversity, livelihoods, professions, and traditions of the residents of the neighborhood.

The original project, completed in 2012, was made possible by many community members, neighborhood residents, and organizations, including Lily Yeh, NeighborWorks Salt Lake’s Maria Garciaz, Brolly Arts’s Amy MacDonald, Utah Division of Arts & Museums’ Jean Irwin, Mestizo Institute of Culture & Arts’ Ruby Chacón and Terry Hurst, the Utah Department of Transportation, artist Jimmy Lucero, John Riddle, and many others.

In the spring of 2024, Bridges Over Barriers underwent a significant restoration effort. Under the creative direction of Brolly Arts, and in close collaboration with NeighborWorks Salt Lake and the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art program, a team of local artists dedicated six weeks to restoring and preserving this important community artwork. This restoration effort was made possible by Brolly Arts and the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program, with support from the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, NeighborWorks Salt Lake, the Utah Department of Transportation, with assistance from neighborhood residents. The artist team, led by Amy MacDonald, included Fairpark artists Matt Monsoon, Brooklyn Ottens, Jessie Thomas, and mosaic artist Roger Whiting.

Located in both Districts 2 & 3

May We Have Peace

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May We Have Peace depicts a standing Native American man whose extended arms clasp a peace pipe. The sculpture combines Native American imagery with stylistic influence by modernist sculptors. It was set forth as a numbered edition of eight castings in 1992. Allan Houser had a special casting made in 1994 dedicated “To the American People of the United States from the First Americans” and presented it to then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. It was installed at the Naval Observatory, the official residence of the Vice President. It remained on display there until joining the permanent collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in 2001. Additional castings of May We Have Peace include those located in Oklahoma, where Houser was born and raised, Santa Fe, where Houser lived for much of his career, and at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. This casting of May We Have Peace and eighteen other Houser sculptures were loaned to Salt Lake City by the Allan Houser Estate in 2002 as part of the Cultural Olympiad, an arts festival that accompanies all Olympic games. Through efforts led by Ms. Karen Edson, Ms. Sharon Newton, and other private donors, Salt Lake City co-purchased the sculpture for permanent display.

 

Allan Houser was an artist, teacher, and member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe. He grew up in Oklahoma, where many members of his tribe were incarcerated for 27 years as U.S. prisoners of war after the surrender of Geronimo and the seizure of millions of acres of their homelands in New Mexico and Arizona. Houser attended the Santa Fe Indian School for painting in 1934. In his early days of schooling in Oklahoma, his name had been changed from the native Haozous, which refers to the sound and feeling of uprooting a plant, to “Houser.” He taught art at the Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City, Utah before founding the Institute of Native American Arts in Santa Fe in 1962. After gaining popularity in Europe and the American Southwest, Houser’s sculpture Offering of the Sacred Pipe, which is thematically similar to May We Have Peace, was installed at the United Nations building in New York. In the final two decades of his life, Houser focused on a prolific sculptural practice and became the first Native American awarded the National Medal of the Arts. Houser’s vast legacy includes navigating an inheritance of state violence against his tribe and ongoing marginalization of Native Americans.

200 West Cycle Track Planters

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Salt Lake City is committed to providing urban mobility through a diversity of transportation choices – including walking, bicycling, transit, and driving. The City’s bicycle initiatives seek to improve safety, enhance quality of life, provide sustainable and healthy transportation choices, and improve air quality in our region.

The public art program in coordination with the Transportation Division commissioned two local artists, John Riddle and Paul Heath, to enhance the Cycle Track by treating large concrete planters with paint and tile. The artists’ inspiration for the designs for the 33 planters along the Cycle Track comes from two sources. The first is an abstract representation of the directional paths and arrows which are often found on maps. The second is bold curved shapes meant to represent the motion, glide and flow of riding a bike. Superimposed on these designs are stylized bike gears and bright tile bands. Of the original 33 planters, 19 remain in place along 200 West

The artists “hope that these colorful planters will enhance the Cycle Track’s experience for cyclists as well as the pedestrians, residents and visitors to Salt Lake City who travel along the street and sidewalks.”

The 200 West Cycle Track project is part of the implementation of the City’s Downtown in Motion Master Plan (adopted in 2008) and Complete Streets Ordinance (passed in 2010), as well as the Wasatch Front Regional Council’s Regional Priority Bicycle Network.

Life on State

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Once adorned with an array of iconic neon and light-based signs, State Street holds a vibrant cultural history that brought color and personality to Salt Lake City’s urban fabric. Honoring this legacy, the Salt Lake Art Design Board commissioned eight Utah-based artists to create neon-inspired artwork that celebrates and reimagines this history. The Life on State public art project features eight unique designs brought to life by YESCO’s neon artists, each transformed into a 4-foot in diameter neon artwork mounted 10 feet on steel support posts. Four posts were constructed in total, each displaying two distinctive designs back-to-back.

This project highlights the Public Art Program’s dedication to supporting Utah-based artists, especially those new to public art. By managing fabrication and installation directly, the program created an accessible opportunity for many first-time public art artists. This project originated from a Call for Artists released in 2022, reflecting the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s commitment to fostering opportunities for local creatives to engage with the public on a significant scale.

Installed along the east and west portions of State Street that run from 600 South to 700 South, this public art installation is part of Salt Lake City’s broader “Life on State“ Implementation Plan, an initiative to promote economic development, improve transportation, and enhance safety on State

Photo 1: Kalani Tonga
Photo 2: Chuck Landvatter
Photo 3: Alex Billany
Photo 4: Liz Shattler
Photo 5: Valerie Jar
Photo 6: Emma Ryder
Photo 7: Ryan Perkins
Photo 8: Verónica Pérez

This project was made possible through the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program, with support from the Salt Lake City Engineering & Transportation Divisions, Utah Department of Transportation, the Midtown District of Salt Lake City, YESCO, and the Salt Lake Art Design Board.

Photo credit: Salt Lake City Corp

PBS Utah – The Neon Comeback: Local Artists Transform Salt Lake’s State Street

Kalani Tonga




Location: 716 South State Street

“[This design] incorporates several easily recognizable traditional Polynesian tribal patterns that I believe will foster a sense of belonging and pride in the neighborhood amongst Pacific Islanders…I chose to create these patterns using a rainbow color scheme because rainbows are historically connected to both the Hawaiian community and the LGBTQ+ community…"

Chuck Landvatter


Location: 716 South State Street

“[This piece] positively evokes movement and references Salt Lake City’s burgeoning downtown culture and night life.”

Alex Billany


Location: 711 South State Street

"One of my favorite aspects of State Street is its unique automotive culture and being able to see incredible low-riders showcased as they drive up and down the street throughout the year."

Liz Shattler


Location: 711 South State Street

"This design remembers the Paper Moon, Salt Lake City's only lesbian bar. The pink moon from their logo is centered above rainbow stripes which recall the stripes that were painted on the asphalt outside of the bar's front door. This neon sign is in tribute to the space we once had and to the local lesbian community."

Valerie Jar


Location: 638 South State Street

“My family would often take a weekend trip to Salt Lake City, driving up State Street for dim sum…I remember the excitement of heading to the city and spending time with my family.”

Emma Ryder


Location: 638 South State Street

“My neon sign illustrates an anecdote my grandmother told to distract me while crossing the street’s intimidatingly wide lanes. She said State Street was designed to provide room for an ox cart to make a U-turn and continue their journey in the opposite direction. I never forgot this little glimpse into the past. Now I get to share it with everyone who passes by in glowing neon. "

Ryan Perkins


Location: 643 South State Street

"The Great Basin rattlesnake reminds us that despite our urban landscape, the awesome power of wilderness remains ever-present. In addition, it evokes the wild and braggadocious tattoo culture whose historic home is on State Street."

Verónica Pérez


Location: 643 South State Street

"The butterflies in this piece represent migration and transformation. State Street was built on native land that sustained many Indigenous peoples, land that has been traveled by Mormon oxcarts and Mexican taco carts…The heart represents…how we have all adjusted and changed with these movements.”