Traci O’Very Covey’s spirits soared when she learned her sky-high sculpture, “Drinking It In,” had been selected as part of the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s “Flying Objects 5.0” public art project. In fact, she says the coolest thing that happened to her in 2017 was the completion and permanent installation of the work, two colorful birds drinking from a white teacup complete with saucer, at the intersection of 300 East and 300 South downtown.
“It whimsically reflects enjoying the creative Broadway District, by symbolizing relaxation, pleasure, conversation, friendship, restaurants, and taking time for a welcome respite from a typical day. To me birds are always a welcome sight and even more so in the city, the artist says of the sculpture,” the artist states.
Born in Salt Lake City, Traci O’Very Covey received a BFA from the University of Utah where she studied drawing, painting and graphic design. “I am inspired by the spirit of nature, and the grace and joy of everyday,” she says.
O’Very Covey’s style is immediately recognizable. “I am interested in creating a harmony of color, shape and line and I take pleasure in designing the compositions, breaking the shapes and spaces with curving lines, overlapping objects and elements and through these interactions new shapes develop. I work this interplay and balancing act until the elements come together in a unified way — representational yet abstracted,” she writes on her website.
Her art has been exhibited in various galleries, museums, and at auctions and is in private and corporate collections. She has illustrated and designed several books. She has completed three public murals including one at the Eccles Theater and another at Daybreak, and is currently working on her largest-to-date metal-sculpture installation commissioned by the Salt Lake City Arts Council to be installed in the spring of 2018.
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