- Brooke Facer, a Davis County artist, painted two murals in Clearfield while pregnant.
- The murals celebrate Clearfield's military history and lifestyle, featuring vibrant designs.
- Facer balances art with motherhood, seeking projects that allow family time flexibility.
CLEARFIELD — A Davis County woman's love of art and creativity is evident throughout the city of Clearfield.
Last year, Brooke Facer was commissioned to design and paint two large murals that highlight the city's lifestyle, history and military significance.
The project turned out to truly be a labor of love as she worked to complete the murals during the summer heat — while pregnant with her second child.
"I was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, and so I finished up the last mural on the third of July — I had my baby the last week of August," Facer said.
Facer, 29, a former Clearfield resident of nine years who recently moved to Layton, was selected as one of three local artists to design and paint a series of jet statues placed throughout the city to align with its rebranding of "Utah's Military City," with it being the home of Hill Air Force Base.
One of the five jets Facer worked on was sponsored by her alma mater, Weber State University, where she studied communication and multimedia journalism.
Facer had recently learned she was pregnant with her second child when Clearfield approached with the offer to design and paint the murals, initially calling for the project to be completed early last spring.
'I was like, 'Sure, let's do it.' There'll be great opportunities (from it)," she recounted.
However, the project was delayed until early summer, which inched closer to her delivery date. But after consulting with her doctor due to safety concerns, Facer was given the thumbs up to take on the project — but with several precautions to keep from potentially harming the baby and herself.
But it was her resilience and focus on her broader goals that kept her inspired to finish the project.
"What kept me motivated to complete it in that hot sun was knowing that these murals would open up opportunities that would allow me to contribute financially to the household, while also getting to be at home with my kids," Facer said.
Facer was given guidance and ideas based on what the city envisioned for the murals — designs that honor Clearfield's military history, local industries and recreation.
"Being a Clearfield resident kind of helped me understand, kind of, what is important ... culturally to the Clearfield residents," she told KSL.
One of the murals — sitting across from the North Davis Fire District's station — uses the Clearfield setting with blue mountains in the backdrop, with jets flying overhead and reads, "Where Dreams Take Flight."
The other, on the south wall of the City Centre apartments, features a light color scheme under a blue sky with three fighter jets in formation.
"Her work embodies the spirit of women in our community. Clearfield women are hardworking, dedicated, and unstoppable. They are the glue of our community," officials wrote on the city's Facebook page on Monday.
Facer is not only an artist; she's a military wife, a mother of two and an entrepreneur. She also dabbled in marketing for a time, after graduating from Weber State.
The work Facer has done with Clearfield so far speaks to her vibrant style of artistry, which began as a hobby and then turned into a business during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she upcycled old pieces of furniture for resale.
"I'd repair it and sand it and give it a fresh coat of paint, then do a hand-painted design of wildlife or nature on the front of the piece to, you know, make it more artistic," she explained.
Facer's work, through her business Rummage and Redeem Design Co, sits in homes and spaces throughout the country, she said.
With Women's History Month underway, Facer reflected on past opportunities to express herself through art, which empowered her creativity while balancing motherhood.
"When they first reached out to me about painting the jets, I was three months postpartum with my first baby, and I just really needed that win at that point," she said. "It was just such a highlight for me because I had taken a step back from my marketing career to raise a family, and I was a new mom and was struggling with this like loss of identity in a career, and that win of getting awarded that contract was just such a meaningful moment to me."
Facer said she hopes to take on more projects through her business that support the flexibility of pursuing her passion for art without too much time away from her children.
"If I'm going to take time away from my kids to work, it needs to be something that I enjoy and that fills my cup up and recharges my batteries — and art is that for me. It's exciting; it fills me with energy and a sense of accomplishment," she said.
