Installation of an original bronze art piece joining a preserved beam from Utah’s past is being added to Salt Lake City’s art-scape
JUNE 11, 2020 - Salt Lake City - Steve Price is known for both tackling commercial building restoration projects in the Salt Lake City urban core, as well as a strong belief that art in public makes communities healthier, stronger and more livable. This installation brings these principles to life.
Location of installation: The piece will be placed in front of a 1 1/2 story building that sits between downtown SLC and the University of Utah and has been home to small Utah businesses since the 1930’s. It sits on space that includes an abandoned well from the 1800’s. This blond bricked structure is currently under restoration and renovation. For decades this area has successfully blended family houses and small business. Now this neighborhood will include a new major artwork.
Project: This art activation project has been over a year in the making. It started with a desire to save the last gantry crane beam. Originally there were four of these beams dating from the early 1900’s, but the other three had already been melted down for rebar. Steve Price was visiting the old rail site to preserve bricks when he heard about this last 6ft tall x 27ft long 8 ton beam used to help Rio Grande and Union Pacific railroads service locomotives for over 100 years. He committed to salvage this historic beam on the spot and repurpose it in Salt Lake City
“I had no idea what I would do with it, I just knew I didn’t want them to melt it down. So, my first move was to ask if they could hold it in their yard for a few months until I figured out what to do,” explains Price.
This led to a year-long journey that included negotiations with state agencies, general and demolition contractors, permissions and permits from SLC, as well as locating a bronze foundry and a world-class artist. Logistics puzzles like how to move the beam, how to create a base structure, and how to keep the bronze bird from flying away in a wind storm were coupled with solutions on how to honor history, location and preservation. For the project, it was vital that Salt Lake City and Utah based businesses and artists would be used for this project.
“I will say, one concept that guided my process, and frankly made me keep going through the regulatory process, was a belief in the power of art. I know the inspiration we receive through art brings out our humanity and enlightens us. Humanity is something we are very much in need of today” adds Price.
Artist: When Utah artist Mike Wilson started thinking through the bronze bird that he had been asked to create, Mike knew he needed to tie together the beam and the craven. Wilson explains, “I usually don’t title works but this theme of second chances kept coming to my mind. This work horse beam was getting a second life as pedestal and I was guided by that concept.”
He finally landed on adding a locomotive engineer hat for the bird to hold in its beak – which also ended up providing a key element to his sculpture. “Movement is essential to give life to a piece. So, when I rolled it to the middle of room one day – I noticed that the hat was swinging. I knew we needed to find a way to keep that movement,” Mike explains.
The 35lb. hat includes the Rio Grande logo, glowing from the polished raw bronze, on the front of the cap, a detail you can capture at the right moment from 25 feet below.
Mike Wilson acknowledges that when the artist turns the work over to bronze its only halfway through. For this project he partnered with Adonis Bronze, a Lehi, Utah-based foundry who has been working with well-known artists for almost three decades.
WHEN: Friday, June 12, 2020
10:30am: Crane stands up beam
1:00pm: Bird Bronze placement
WHERE: 470 S. 900 S, Salt Lake City, Utah
WHAT: Installation of new major art piece for a Salt Lake City neighborhood
###
