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SALT LAKE CITY — While "Out of the Blue" made a giant splash when it was unveiled two years ago — invoking imagination through the unexpected with a whale leaping out in Salt Lake City's 9th and 9th district — the Salt Lake City Arts Council is taking a more grounded approach with another traffic circle art piece set to installed on the west side.
The arts council, through its public art program, announced Monday a sculpture depicting aspects of Salt Lake City's Fairpark neighborhood will be placed at a new traffic circle at the intersection of 500 North and 1300 West later this year.
Designed by Fairpark resident and muralist Matt Monsoon, the sculpture will feature four people designed from two intersecting pieces of cut metal. Two of the people are younger and represent the neighborhood's "youth and potential," while the other two are older and symbolize "wisdom," according to the arts council.
Monsoon, of Monsoon Creative, has completed several public murals scattered throughout the state the past few years. He explained the sculpture is inspired by a quote from novelist Wallace Stegner, an East High and University of Utah alumnus, who once said: "Culture is a pyramid to which each of us brings a stone."
The four individuals in the sculpture are placed atop of an pyramid of blocks, which Monsoon said is inverted to incorporate more people at the top.
"Inspired by Fairpark's multiculturalism, unity and cooperative spirit, (Monsoon's) 500 North Traffic Calming Measures public art commission is a direct reflection of these values," Salt Lake City Arts Council officials added in a statement Monday.
The traffic circle is part of Salt Lake City's 500 North Traffic Calming project, which also includes new raised crosswalks, raised islands and pedestrian ramps/crosswalks along 500 North, from Redwood Road and 1200 West. The arts council selected the project for Percent-for-Art funding in 2022, so a sculpture could be placed at the traffic circle.
The city conducted a public survey last year, which ultimately collected the feedback of nearly 250 people. It found a strong desire for the sculpture to be "community-oriented," including diversity, or wild to best describe the neighborhood. Those who completed it also favored images that either represented its fairgrounds or nature, or at least something that "expressed love for and deep familial connection to the neighborhood," according to the survey findings.
Arts council officials said Monsoon was recommended by the Salt Lake Art Design Board following a request for qualifications process, and officially approved to take on the project earlier this year. He was given access to the results while he designed the sculpture.
The piece is slated to be created and installed by the end of 2024.
