Client: Utah Transit Authority

Overview

The Canyon is inspired by the beautiful landscape of the Salt Lake City area. The artist has taken a profile of a mountain range and segmented it vertically. The segments for the sculpture are made of steel plates. The Canyon is painted in a bright color reminiscent of the intense burnt orange, one might see at sunset in Bryce Canyon. The sculpture is 96 feet in length and varies in height from three feet to eight feet.

Goals

Commissioned as part of the local Arts in Airports program, the art installation functions as art as well as a barrier between the public transportation component and the public parking facility. The art piece meets national ADA requirements and reflects the character of the local landscape.
The Canyon is in essence passively kinetic as the plates and their spacing combine to create a mountain range that visually opens and closes dependent on the angle of viewing. Driving by in a car or riding in a TRAX train past "The Canyon" increases this dynamic since the viewer is moving at a higher rate of speed.

Process

There was collaboration between the artist and the Public Transportation Agency, Architect, Landscape Architects, Structural and Civil Engineer, Salt Lake City staff and Arts Commission. The coordination consisted of planning and design collaboration, for regulatory planning and documentation, as well as structural, positioning, placement and installation of the sculpture.