- A massive spherical art installation in Salt Lake City highlights Great Salt Lake's issues.
- Created by Olafur Eliasson, it features dynamic lights and music by Koreless.
- Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the exhibit aims to inspire public awareness.
SALT LAKE CITY — A three-story-tall, spherical public art installation took shape recently at Memory Grove Park. It was set up with the goal of building curiosity and improving education about the environmental issues surrounding the Great Salt Lake.
"A symphony of disappearing sounds for the Great Salt Lake" launched Thursday near the south end of the park, located at 300 N. Canyon Road.
Salt Lake City Arts Council executive director Felicia Baca said the artwork of Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson features a dynamic light display during nightly 30-minute shows. It also plays a musical composition from UK-based producer Koreless, which combines over 150 field recordings of creatures that depend on the Great Salt Lake for their health.
"It's our city's namesake," Baca said of the Great Salt Lake during an interview with KSL on Monday. "It's about our ability to live healthily in our city. So many things depend on the Great Salt Lake. It's one of the biggest bird flyways in the Northern Hemisphere. Our ski season is dependent on it. Our ability to breathe clean air is dependent on the Great Salt Lake."
Baca said the exhibit was part of the broader public art project, "Wake the Great Salt Lake," which is supported by the arts council, the Salt Lake City Mayor's Office and the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge.
"The Salt Lake City Arts Council is a recipient of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge, so we got a $1 million grant to do temporary public art on a local challenge, and so the Great Salt Lake, of course, was that challenge for us," Baca said.
The exhibit's public reception
The exhibit was already generating its share of curiosity at the park.
Cody Peterson said he had "no idea" what it was when he first saw it last week.
"(I was) super curious because you don't see something in the park like that every day," Peterson said.
Ryan Eldredge quipped that the exhibit reminded him of something else entirely.
"I was like, 'Well, (it) looks like we have a mini Vegas up here,'" Eldredge said.
A QR code at the site of the exhibit allows visitors to learn more.
Catherine McVey said she appreciated the message behind the art installation.
"The Great Salt Lake needs a lot of publicity because it's disappearing," she said. "So many things depend on the Great Salt Lake."
Eldredge said he liked the art exhibit as a conversation starter.
"I think conversation has to be brought up, and it's in a nonconfrontational setting way to do it, which I like," he said.
The nightly 9 p.m. shows were scheduled to continue through April 4.
Baca said attendance was free and open to the public, but she recommended registering ahead of time.
She said the goal was to inspire interest and action on the issues that affect the Great Salt Lake.
"We hope that it just brings that education and awareness about the decline of the Great Salt Lake," Baca said. "We know that sometimes science or data doesn't really reach people in the way that art can to help kind of change hearts and minds."
