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SALT LAKE CITY — The sixth annual Urban Gallery at the Neighborhood House took place Aug. 27, and residents are encouraged to vote for their favorite mural.
The Urban Gallery began in 2007 as a collaboration between Neighborhood House, the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and the 337 Project as a way to give the Neighborhood House children and adult clients an opportunity to appreciate art, according to the Urban Gallery website. The theme for the 2014 gallery was “Dreams into Reality” and children joined with professional artists to create murals on the doors of the Neighborhood House bus garages.
Local artist Brandon Dayton and five other professional artists met with children from the Neighborhood House at 1050 W. 500 South in July. The artists developed an idea for each of the four murals after asking the children about their dreams and aspirations. Dayton and fellow artist David Habben teamed up to create one of the murals on the garage door.
“Themes ranged from boxing to dolphins to teaching, careers, places they wanted to go and animals they liked,” Dayton said. “It was a lot about the different kind of fantasies and dreams of the children. We tried to incorporate a little bit of a lot of different ideas into that.”
Dayton said he has been painting and creating art since he was a young child and has been painting professionally for the past 10 years. He currently works as a concept artist in the video game industry, and while this was his first time painting for the Urban Gallery, he said he hopes it isn’t his last.
“I hope I get to do it again,” Dayton said. “Sitting down with the kids was actually a lot of fun. Not only did we talk about their interests and dreams and what they want to do when they grow up, but we actually got to draw with the kids on a big sheet of butcher paper. And that was a lot of fun.”
The community is invited to view the murals at the Neighborhood House and vote for their favorite on Sept. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. The artist of the winning mural will receive $500.
