Eli Herrera was doing some long overdue yard work when he made a discovery.

A resident of Salt Lake City’s Poplar Grove neighborhood for more than 50 years, Herrera lives on a well-manicured property near Jordan Park. The south side of his lot was lined with several mature trees that had been there as long as he had, but that had begun to take over. When he finally cut them down, he kept the trunks of two of them, trimmed to the height of his one-story home.

While cleaning the bark from the one closest to the street, an image appeared in the wood’s grain: the Madonna, in a flowing robe, and just above her, the face of Jesus in profile. He began carving and pecking to bring the figures into sharper relief, then added a steel crown at the top. When he painted blue acrylic around the Madonna, someone warned him the color would bleed in the rain. It did—but only into her robe, which has been associated with that particular blue for so long that a shade of it bears her name. The color has since faded, but he plans to repaint this summer.

He’s been adding to the shrine for the past three years, including lights that illuminate it after dark. People have come to pray at the house—enough of them that he’d prefer we not give out his address. Among the regulars is a kid he knows from the neighborhood, whose life has been undone by drugs. He comes weekly to pray, and Herrera has let him attach a small cross at the base of the tree.

Next to it, tucked against the shrine, is a protest that long predates the Madonna tree. A photo of his nephew, Caleb Herrera, is framed by the words: “We want our meeting. We want answers.” He was killed under suspicious circumstances in 2003.

In Plain Site

With our In Plain Site byline we feature publicly viewable art, both official and street art, throughout the state of Utah.