Temporary art attracting thousands of art-lovers

About 150 artists have spent the past two months turning a building at 337 S. 400 East into a 42-room work of art, but soon the building, and the art inside it, will be demolished.

And the artists wouldn't have it any other way.

"Nothing is permanent anyway," said artist Edie Roberson. "When I do a painting, it's no longer mine anymore. It doesn't bother me at all that it's going to be destroyed. Really, nothing is permanent."

The more than 100-year-old building is now the site of the 337 Project, a community project that involves artists ages 10 to 78. The building is owned by Adam Price, who had bought it planning to live there with his wife, Dessi.

The couple decided to demolish it because of problems with its foundation. But first they wanted to take advantage of the possibilities their empty space presented, Adam Price said.

"It would be a tragedy to let this enormous blank canvas be wasted without opening it to Salt Lake's art community to see what they could do," he said.

Art now covers nearly every square inch of the two-story building's walls, both inside and outside, and sculptures fill many of the rooms. Non-traditional artistic media such as magazine clippings, antique furniture, old boots, microphones and even live grass make up many of the exhibits.

Artist Nelle Ward created a sunset scene on one of the building's doors, which are displayed behind the building. Ward said she chose a more traditional medium — acrylic paint — to "bring some diversity in medium" to the project. She chose to paint a sunset to remind the viewer of nature and to contrast with the urban surroundings of the project.

Among the artists were two classes of fifth- and sixth-graders from Nibley Park Elementary and Bonneville Elementary schools. Dessi Price, a graphic designer, also created a piece in the project.

The building was open to the public free of charge last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and will be open today, Saturday and Sunday from noon until 8 p.m. After Sunday the building will be closed until it is demolished in July, Price said.

About 2,500 people attended the project's opening Friday, far exceeding the building's occupancy limit of 1,200, Price said. Similar numbers attended on Saturday and Sunday, he said.

Price said he's grown emotionally attached to the building since the project began in February and sometimes jokes with the artists about not demolishing it after all. But the artists all demand that it be destroyed.

For many artists, knowing that their work wouldn't be around long changed the process they used to create it, Price said. Some were willing to take greater risks because the results would soon be gone, he said.