The Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program is excited to announce the upcoming installation of 10 bike rack “murals” painted by local Salt Lake City artists for the Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Murals public art project. Six of the bike rack murals will be located at Bonneville Boulevard Trailhead and four at Popperton Park Trailhead. The installations are expected to take place later this summer.
For this project, the Public Art Program partnered with Salt Lake City Public Lands in their capital improvement project for both trailheads. Bonneville Boulevard and Popperton Park Trailheads are major confluences and urban interfaces of the Foothills trails, natural area, and trail system. These trailheads connect the Avenues neighborhood, the Utah State Capitol, downtown Salt Lake City, and the University of Utah.
This project aims to produce both aesthetic and functional art that recognizes the importance of Salt Lake City’s foothills as an invaluable ecological site. It celebrates the natural, cultural, and biological diversity of the area while creating a visually rewarding experience for its numerous daily visitors and residential community. The Salt Lake City Public Art Program’s Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Murals public art project was developed to provide a learning experience and professional development opportunity for local emerging artists and/or those without previous public art experience.
The entries were reviewed by the Salt Lake Art Design Board and community stakeholders. The Foothills Trailheads: Bike Rack Mural selected artists are Elizabeth Carrington, Eric Fairclough, Valerie Jar, Xander Brickey, Caro Nilsson, Bill Luis, Sri Whipple, Brooklyn Ottens, Chuck Berrett, and Evan Jed Memmott. Scroll down to see their original bike rack mural designs. The sego lily cutout in the tires of the bike rack was designed by Derek Ballard.
The selection of these 10 artists and their designs for this commission was recommended by the Salt Lake Art Design Board and subsequently approved by Mayor Erin Mendenhall. Their designs were selected following a ‘Request for Qualifications’ process that was open to artists and artist-led teams residing in Utah. The bike rack murals will be installed this summer.
We invite you to follow us on Instagram at @slc_publicartprogram for updates on this and the many other different projects we sponsor throughout Utah’s capital city. The Public Art Program is a service of the Salt Lake City Arts Council. You can learn more about what we do at www.saltlakearts.org and www.saltlakepublicart.org
Artists Bios and Designs:
Elizabeth Carrington
Elizabeth Carrington is known for her pop art paintings, public art, and textiles, all which mix graffiti-style lettering, doodles, and collage with graphic screen-printed imagery. her work is fun and whimsical—and sometimes subversive—and is informed by her lifelong love of travel, music, the outdoors, and action sports.
Val Jar is an illustrator based in Salt Lake City. Her mural was inspired by her experiences trail running in the foothills. She wanted to capture the moments when day shifts to night, so one side shows the landscape in bright daylight and the other shows the lower contrast side of the night.
Caro Nilsson is a painter and human creature living in Salt Lake City. At its heart, Caro's work is about a deep personal relationship with landscapes, and all the human and non-human influences within them.
Eric Fairclough is a local artist living and working out of his home studio in Salt Lake City. He specializes in intricate geometric artwork using spray paint and acrylic as his primary medium.
Xander Brickey is an artist, designer, and maker from Salt Lake City with a passion for biking, skiing, furniture and cartoons.
Bill Luis has painted murals around the country. He has worked with many community youth programs with art inspired workshops and mural making. His latest work comprises a combination of his Polynesian culture, graffiti, surrealism, abstract-geometric shapes, and family
Sri Whipple is a fine arts painter residing in Salt Lake City.
Brooklyn Ottens was born and raised in Utah and creative expression has always been a part of her life, whether it be art, murals, screen printing, fashion, or installation design. She hopes her art can be a portal to a calmer reality, one where the stresses and routines of daily life are lifted.
Chuck Berrett is an American painter who started his career in NYC as a muralist. He works primarily in figurative and floral abstraction, with an emphasis on dramatic color and brushwork. He currently works in Salt Lake City, which is where he was born and raised.
Evan Jed Memmott
Evan Jed Memmott’s art sits right between chaos and control. His style is iconic. Pushing squiggly lines to the edge of chaos, he balances it with a strong base in geometry. Using simple shapes he intersects and controls the chaos - a task he’s found much more difficult in daily life. NOTHING LASTS
