{"id":87496,"date":"2024-10-12T06:30:49","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T13:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=87496"},"modified":"2026-01-22T16:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T23:02:19","slug":"utahs-rural-street-scene-the-sevier-corridor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/utahs-rural-street-scene-the-sevier-corridor\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah’s Rural Street Scene: The Sevier Corridor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Panguitch welcome sign on the south side of The Pink Polka Dott, 32 N Main St, Panguitch, is the first street art you’ll see along the Sevier River corridor.<\/p><\/div>\n

When the Mormon pioneers arrived in Utah and laid down their grid system, they emphasized the cardinal directions with a series of right angles. The Interstate system did something similar a century later. But nature doesn’t work in right angles: one of the longest natural pathways in the state comes in the shape of a fish hook. Beginning near Bryce National Park, the Sevier River travels north along the Sevier Plateau, passes under I-70 behind Richfield, and then, near the state’s lesser-known prison in Gunnison, takes a northwest turn, crossing I-15 before wrapping around to head south to its terminus in Sevier Lake\u2014an intermittent and endorheic lake that is almost always dry now because of the amount of water being diverted for agricultural use. Along this 400-mile path (longer than the Utah portion of I-15), lie a series of small towns and hamlets we don’t usually think of as belonging to each other: Panguitch, Marysvale, Gunnison, Delta. This is the Sevier Corridor, where most towns are home to a few hundred and the largest strives to breach 9,000.<\/h4>\n
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A little north of Panguitch, before the Bear Valley cutoff to I-15, you’ll find this delightful metal safari.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Heading north from Panguitch, route 89 follows the flow of the Sevier as it passes through small farming communities, including Circleville, Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home. The town was settled twice by Mormon communities, first in 1864, and again in 1873. The first settlement was disrupted by the Black Hawk War, during which, in 1866, the white settlers of Circleville perpetrated a brutal massacre on a local band of Paiute. The town’s population of around 500 has remained relatively consistent over the last century and a half, even as the town’s fortunes have waxed and waned. A decade ago, the town was pockmarked by several failed businesses and crumbling homes, including this one at the center of town. Newly restored, the facade is a work of art in its own right, and on the north side of the building the owners have painted a cheery scene of lilac trees.<\/h4>\n
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2 S. Main Street, Circleville, Utah. To see what the building looked like a decade ago, see here<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

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With a population of more than 8000, Richfield earns the bragging rights as the biggest town of the Sevier corridor, indeed of all central Utah. But the same can’t be said for its mural scene. The town is both early and late to the mural craze: its Henry George mural probably goes back more than a century, but the other murals in town are only a couple of years old. Now little remembered, Henry George was a well-known figure in the late 19th century, a popular economist and author who was loved by the working class for his fight against growing economic inequality. The cigars named after him, priced just five cents, were the most affordable in the country and you can still find ghost murals advertising the product in several small towns in America. They might seem out of place in “Mormon” Utah, but the murals in Richfield and Salina (and further north in Mt. Pleasant) remind us that though there might be a dominant culture in the state it has never been a monolith.<\/h4>\n
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The Henry George mural facing the parking lot of Classic Motors in Richfield (120 S Main St.) has been spruced up. \u00b7<\/p><\/div>\n

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In nearby Salina, you’ll have to know what you are looking for to recognize the wall just west of Mom’s Cafe (10 E. Main St., Salina, Utah).<\/p><\/div>\n

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“The World Needs Your Magic,” painted by madebykate<\/a>, can be found on the back side of Richfield’s Soda Run, on the south side of town (1000 S Main St, Richfield).<\/p><\/div>\n

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When Richfield created a pocket park in the center of town in the summer of 2023, The Rocky Mountain Power Foundation donated $4,000 for madebykate<\/a> to create this mural at 142 North Main.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Located where I-70 emerges out of the confines of the San Rafael Swell and Valley Mountains (a 105-mile stretch of service-less interstate), Salina is taking advantage of its location along the interstate system to create a commercial center on the fringes of town. Nothing much to see there, but travel into town and you’ll find several murals around the central crossroads. Salina may not be fully ready to compete with the mural fests along the Wasatch Front, but it’s on its way to becoming a mural haven. Across the street from the Henry George remnants mentioned above, you’ll find a welcome sign celebrating off-road riding, both old and new (the Paiute ATV trail is big all along the Sevier corridor), the Eyes to the Sky Balloon Festival (founded in 2007) as well as distinctive landmarks along the local mountain ranges. Within walking distance you’ll find several other murals: there’s an American flag mural in the back alley; the High Desert Inn celebrates the bandlands of central Utah and the “Be Kind” mural remembers a local youth lost to suicide.<\/h4>\n
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A pocket park at 59 E. Main in Salina, Utah<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The “Be Kind” mural in the parking lot at 45 N. State, in Salina, Utah. The mural painted by madebykate<\/a>, was created by the Kind Like Kamree Foundation, which celebrates the life of Kamree Newby, a local youth who took her own life in 2019.<\/p><\/div>\n

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A Maynard Dixon-esque mural on the side of the High Desert Inn, 60 N. State, Salina, UT<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If you’re traveling from Richfield to the Wasatch Front, you’ll likely skip Salina and route 89 and take the cutoff road that connects I-70 to I-15 at Scipio. If it weren’t for this detour, few would pass through Aurora, a sleeper community of fewer than 1000. You won’t find any services here, or much commercial activity of any sort. But you will find one of the more unique artistic transformations along the Sevier corridor. You’ll notice the mural first: bright blue water, palm trees, a sailboat. But it doesn’t stop there. The ocean theme expands to the front yard, where you’ll find a life-size diorama-like installation of pelicans, seagulls and an oceanfront home: someone apparently feels out of place in the high Utah desert. San Diego-dreaming continues in the adjacent commercial space where the diorama is more model-train size, but depicts an entire town, including the local zoo.<\/h4>\n
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Ocean-inspired mural on the corner of 100 N. and Main Street in Aurora, UT<\/p><\/div>\n

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40 W. 100 North, Aurora, Utah<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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