Split image: Left shows silver tubes hanging from ceiling in cylindrical shape with the letters

Two New Public Artworks Completed at UVU

Following the official opening of the new Scott M. Smith Engineering Building at UVU, we want to congratulate artists Bruce Shapiro and Erik Jensen on the completion of their respective art installations.

"Pipedream," by Bruce Shapiro, fuses automation and robotic technology to depict ever-changing imagery through the movement of rising bubbles in numerous tubes. This intersection between art and technology complements the disciplines taught at the new facility. Erik Jensen’s e-waste artworks, featuring waste materials donated by UVU professors, are dispersed throughout the building. Jensen reassembled discarded materials into custom shadow boxes that reflect various academic programs at the building, such as electrical and computer engineering, computer science, and digital cinema production. Congratulations to the artists and all who were involved in the successful completion of this new facility!

Large mural depicting red rock desert formation with white flowers in the foreground, displayed over liquor store shelving unit.

Grand Opening of Moab State Liquor Store

We are excited to announce the newest addition to our public art collection, "Time and Terrain" by Lizzie Wenger. This stunning piece was unveiled at the grand opening of the Moab State Liquor Store early this month. At nearly triple the size of the previous Moab facility, the new liquor store offers more space to highlight local brewers and distillers. Wenger’s mural echoes this theme of community, capturing iconic nearby landscapes that will be recognized by both local residents and tourists alike.

Split image: The right shows a rendering of a sculpture with two curvy roads sitting on base. One road is covered in street signs. On the right is a colorful mural depicting a truck and traffic light with mountains in the background.

Artists Commissioned for New UDOT Facility

We are pleased to announce Lenka Konopasek and Andrew Rice as the commissioned artists for the upcoming UDOT Maintenance and Materials Lab in Ogden! These new facilities will provide critically needed updates, allowing UDOT employees to better serve the public.

Lenka Konopasek, a painter and mixed media artist, proposed a playful sculptural piece depicting two roads (pictured left.) Highlighting the purpose and importance of UDOT, it will become an iconic marker for the campus. Local signage will also be integrated into the piece, grounding it in the local community. Andrew Rice designed a bold, colorful mural for the east-facing wall of the Maintenance Facility (pictured right). The mural depicts iconic machinery used by UDOT employees and utilizes a color scheme meant to complement sunsets over the nearby Great Salt Lake. Congratulations to both artists!

^{*Images reflect early renderings of artwork and are subject to change before completion.}

Opportunities Spotlight

+ Adams County Parks, Open Space, and Cultural Arts seeks an artist or artist team to create a series of original sculptures for a group of medians running down Pecos Street in southwest Adams County, CO. The sculptures will be in a highly trafficked area and should capture the vibrant energy of the urban neighborhood. Deadline: Mar. 1

+ Clark County, NV is seeking an artist or artist team to create sculptural artwork for the Red Rock Legacy Trail. The artwork should celebrate cycling while honoring lost cyclists, reflecting themes such as community and connection, adventure, and safety/advocacy. Deadline: Mar. 2

+ The University of Wyoming is seeking qualifications from artists interested in creating artwork for the upcoming Aquatic Center on campus in Laramie, WY. The committee has selected an interior wall as the preferred site and welcomes a range of artistic approaches that explore themes of movement, light, and athleticism. Deadline: Mar. 2

+ Risewell Homes, in partnership with the City of Dublin, CA, invites artists and artist teams to submit their qualifications for a new public art project at the upcoming Dublin Center. This new development project will include hundreds of residencies, alongside retail space and a large park. Deadline: Mar. 6

+ Check out our Public Art Opportunities webpage to see more open calls in Utah and around the country!

A suspended work of dichrioc glass fragments, hanging at different heights below an interior skylight

Collection Highlight: "Repository of Collective Memory," Kana Tanaka, sculpture, 2018, Utah State Archives, State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection

We are pleased to highlight "Repository of Collective Memory" by Kana Tanaka as our collection highlight for February. Commissioned for the Utah State Archives in 2018, this work transforms the foyer with an ever-changing display as sunlight interacts with the dichroic glass elements. The artwork itself represents the dispersing and rearranging of information, depicted through fragments that appear to fly outward from a box or storage vault to float freely in the foyer. The etched designs on the fragments reference the original architectural drawings of the Utah State Capitol building, which are preserved within the Utah State Archives.

Want to visit more public artworks from our collection? Check out the public art map on our website to see the locations of public artworks across the state!

The Utah Public Art Program provides external links to artists' and partner websites, but the agency is not responsible for content or views published on external sites.