{"id":86475,"date":"2024-08-28T04:32:05","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T11:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=86475"},"modified":"2024-10-02T12:49:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T19:49:09","slug":"kiosk-culture-elevating-local-art-in-salt-lakes-pedestrian-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/kiosk-culture-elevating-local-art-in-salt-lakes-pedestrian-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiosk Culture: Elevating Local Art in Salt Lake\u2019s Pedestrian Spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Salt Lake City artist Jamie Kyle is one of four selected by The Blocks to be part of their revitalized Exhibitions on Main program. Image by Shawn Rossiter.<\/p><\/div>\n

We\u2019ve heard a lot recently about plans to transform or revitalize downtown Salt Lake City. There\u2019s renewed interest in the city\u2019s Green Loop, the idea for an urban forest meandering through the city that would provide more opportunities for recreation and community engagement. The grassroots Rio Grande Plan seeks to eliminate some of the railroad crossings that divide the city. And then there\u2019s the plan that has overshadowed both of these\u2014Smith Entertainment Group\u2019s proposed development around the Delta Center. The most longstanding idea to transform downtown Salt Lake City\u2014and maybe the easiest to implement, at a cost of $125 million, much cheaper than the $4 billion the Smith Group is seeking\u2014is to turn Main Street into a pedestrian-only corridor.<\/h4>\n

Talk of revitalizing Main Street goes back decades, probably as far back as the 1960s, when suburban sprawl and the spread of malls\u2014strip or otherwise\u2014replaced downtown as the valley\u2019s prime shopping destination. It goes back at least to the beginning of this century, to when we hosted our first Olympics and already Main Street was struggling to adapt to changing times. One of Mayor Rocky Anderson\u2019s initiatives in the wake of the Olympics was to activate the newspaper kiosks on Main Street by using them to feature images by local artists. This was, in part, a response to artists\u2019 unsanctioned attempts to change the downtown vibe by creating their works out on the city\u2019s sidewalks. The city\u2019s idea for sanctioned artistic exposure was to display reproductions of an artist\u2019s work on the upper sections of the kiosks, above where vending machines sold copies of the local newspapers (back when buying a physical paper was still a thing).<\/h4>\n

It was a fairly simple initiative and by no means saved downtown. But it didn\u2019t exactly hurt, either, and the project has waxed and waned over the past two decades. The most recent revival was initiated by The Blocks, the sales-tax-subsidized organization created in 2017 to bolster the downtown culture and arts scene. When The Blocks<\/a> was formed, it became the custodian of the kiosk program, though at the time, because there were more pressing priorities, little was done. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, further delaying things. Merinda Christensen began working for The Blocks during the pandemic, and when she recently took on what is officially the \u201cExhibitions on Main\u201d program, she wanted to make sure the kiosks were better than ever. \u201cOur goal is to help capture voices in our artistic community through an outdoor exhibition space in a high-traffic area that is free and accessible to everyone,\u201d Christensen says. \u201cYou don’t need a ticket in hand to come enjoy local art. We really wanted anyone with a vision, story, or artistic idea to apply to this program and share their offerings with the community, adding vibrancy to our downtown.\u201d<\/h4>\n

The revitalized program\u2019s call for submissions went out in February, and the selected artists put up their work in May. \u201cThere was no theme or direction in what they could create, we just let them have artistic freedom with the work,\u201c says Christensen. Each artist is featured on one of the four kiosks located on the east and west sides of Main Street on the blocks between 200 and 300 South and between 300 and 400 South. They occupy the bottom spaces, previously reserved for newspapers, while the upper spaces advertise various activities happening in the downtown area. Each artist receives a stipend for participating, and their works will be up for a year.<\/h4>\n
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Jamie Kyle blends images and ephemera to create digital collages. Image by Shawn Rossiter.<\/p><\/div>\n

You may have seen Jamie Kyle\u2019s<\/a> work this year at the Utah and Park City Arts Festivals. She creates digital collages deeply rooted in old photography and ephemera, combining these disparate elements to create new images. In much of her recent work, she embraces the romance of the \u201cAmerican West.\u201d One work features a man with a weathered face, his countenance merged with a wide-brimmed hat that seamlessly integrates a landscape of rugged mountains and cacti. In another, a woman in a sleek black dress is positioned against a backdrop of a sprawling desert landscape. The interplay of her modern appearance with the arid, timeless scenery blends a sense of history with the beauty of the landscape. A third image presents a female figure, her serene profile overlaid with elements of ancient architecture and desert flora. The soft, pastel tones of the background enhance the dreamlike quality of the composition, suggesting a bridge between different epochs and cultures. These are lovely, seamless works that have the feel of a playbill series, and in that sense, blend in well with the kiosks, which are also used to advertise performing arts events in the downtown area.<\/h4>\n
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Dallin Orr’s “The Golden Hour” features portraits bathed in lush color. Image by Shawn Rossiter.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dallin Orr\u2019s<\/a> contributions to the kiosks also have a slight arts-marketing vibe to them. If you attended Artists of Utah\u2019s 35×35 exhibition earlier this year, you may have noticed Orr\u2019s two paintings: brushy cloudscapes that celebrate the west’s unique color and light. In addition to being a fine artist, Orr is an illustrator, an enthusiastic enough one to create works for imaginary, or uncomissioned, projects\u2014like a book cover for The Count of Monte Cristo<\/em> or DVD packaging for a Criterion Collection edition of Werner Herzog\u2019s Aguirre: The Wrath of God<\/em>. Orr’s \u201cThe Golden Hour\u201d is a series of portraits capturing individuals in reflective moments bathed in the lush light of a fading day. The title not only refers to the time of day but also symbolizes, according to the artist, fleeting, heartfelt exchanges, like catching someone’s eye or sharing a vulnerable conversation. Orr’s work captures these intimate gestures and gazes, elevating them to moments of emotional connection. The bold, fluid script that announces the series in one image might cause you to think they are advertising a TV series following the lives of young adults in the early \u201980s.<\/h4>\n