The Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program is excited to announce the selection of Lindsay Huss, an Ogden-based fine art painter and muralist currently represented in our 2023-2025 Public Art Pre-Qualified Artist Pool, for the Liberty Park basketball court public art project. This site-specific artist commission will integrate a mural onto the surface of Liberty Park’s newly renovated basketball court enhancing site use, encouraging play and curiosity, improving park safety, and instilling a sense of pride among basketball users and park visitors.
The basketball court located in the center of Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park was demolished and reconstructed with new standards. New perimeter fencing will help keep balls within the court, while new seating will encourage the area to be a gathering place. This reconstruction is supported through Salt Lake City’s Capital Improvement Program, following a constituent application submitted by Lance Lavizzo of Hard-N-Paint Basketball. This organization hosts street basketball tournaments throughout the Salt Lake area, with many games held at Liberty Park. The Salt Lake Art Design Board, with input from the Salt Lake City Arts Council, selected this site for Percent-for-Art funding in December 2022.
During the conceptual proposal development phase last fall, Huss engaged with Lance and Hard-N-Paint Basketball to better understand the site and how it is used by basketball players and community members. Huss’ artistic approach is rooted in her intent to convey a message of “inclusivity, culture, and imagination.” At the request of the Salt Lake Art Design Board, Huss created a mural proposal in contrasting shades of blue, yellow, and orange that emphasizes elements of street ball culture and is influenced by music, dance, fashion, and art. Additional included elements like a spray paint can represent street art; a cassette player and jukebox light elements symbolize hip-hop and rap music, which are prominent in the culture of those who visit and play street ball at the park. Shoe tread and a two-tone gold chain represent the influence of breakdance, the fluidity of street ball players' movements, and the urban fashion elements prominent in this culture.
Huss brings a vibrant touch to the Liberty Park basketball court project. A graduate of Weber State University with a degree in Visual Arts, she left her decade-long teaching career to pursue her passion for art full-time. Her work, a captivating blend of realism and abstraction, explores themes of self, community, and placemaking. Recognized with numerous awards, including the Indie Ogden Award for Best Ogden Artist and the Ogden Mayor’s Award for Visual Arts, Huss is an active figure in the Ogden art scene, contributing to multiple murals in the Nine Rails Creative District and across Utah.
Huss invites artists and volunteers to join her in painting the new mural at Liberty Park. The painting sessions are tentatively scheduled for June 17-21 and/or June 24-28, weather permitting. Volunteers can sign up for any available days, and Lindsay will provide updates via a group chat. Both paid and unpaid positions are available, with compensation ranging from $15-20 per hour based on experience. Interested participants are encouraged to commit firmly to their selected dates. Lindsay is grateful for the community's support and enthusiasm for this project. For more information and to sign up, please visit https://signup.com/go/wRWckHx.
Lindsay Huss was recommended for this commission by the Salt Lake Art Design Board and approved for commission by Mayor Erin Mendenhall in late 2023. Huss was chosen following a ‘Request for Qualifications’ process open to Utah artists in the 2023-2025 Public Art Pre-Qualified Artist Pool. The Pool consists of 48 professional artists and artist-led teams, all of whom are Utah residents. Each member was selected by the Salt Lake Art Design Board through a competitive application process. The list includes both emerging and established artists working in a variety of artistic and creative mediums. Lindsay Huss’ mural will be installed in June 2024, with an opening celebration scheduled for mid-July. For more information about Huss, follow her on Instagram at @lindsayhussart, Lindsay Huss Art on Facebook, and www.lindsayhussart.com. All images are courtesy of the artist.
We invite you to follow us on Instagram at @slc_publicartprogram for updates on this project and the many others we sponsor throughout Utah’s capital city. The Public Art Program is a service of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, residing within Salt Lake City’s Economic Development Department. You can learn more about what we do at www.saltlakepublicart.org, www.saltlakearts.org and https://www.slc.gov/ed/.
UPDATE:
On July 11, the Salt Lake City Public Art Program, Mayor Erin Mendenhall, project partners such as Hard-N-Paint Basketball, Utah Jazz, and Delta, commissioned artist Lindsay Huss, and community members all came together to unveil the new Liberty Park basketball court surface mural. A huge thank you to everyone who came together to support this project.
