Clinton artist to create mural for center

FARMINGTON — When the $12 million Davis Conference Center expansion officially opens in September, it will be adorned with a piece of artwork designed to reflect Davis County, literally and figuratively.

A selection committee recently chose Clinton artist Brent Brimhall's proposal for a 70-by-12-foot interactive mural.

Brimhall will receive $50,000 for designing and constructing the piece, which will hang inside an eastern hallway adjacent to the expansion's parking lot.

Barry Burton, Davis County assistant director of community and economic development and the expansion's project manager, said he received resumes from 41 artists after announcing he was seeking an artist for the conference center in February.

The eight-member selection committee qualified 15 artists out of the 41 and invited the 15 to make proposals for the conference center.

Twelve did, Burton said, making for an agonizing decision.

"There were a lot of really good proposals," he said, including some from New York and North Carolina.

But having a local artist create a piece for Davis County was a nice bonus, he said.

Brimhall's proposal is to create a multi-panel mural interspersed with beveled mirrors. Three rows of 18 panels will adorn the wall to showcase hundreds of colors up close as one walks down the hallway. But from afar, the picture in the mural becomes evident, Burton said. It's Antelope Island at sunset.

Brimhall says he's never completed a mural of this size before, but he did the color consulting for Salt Lake City's The Gateway mall. He's done the interior design for various restaurants, including two — Corbin's Grill and Rooster's — located near the conference center. And he was completing a mural in a home in Ogden for a client when he learned about the Davis Conference Center project.

In a letter to the selection committee, Brimhall said he picked Antelope Island as the subject of the mural because it's iconic of Davis County.

But because the mural's mirrors make it interactive, Antelope Island isn't the only subject.

"Because of the 216 2.5-inch-by-40-inch beveled mirrors fastened on all 54 panels at controlled angles, it reflects everything around the space: the beautiful architecture, the Wasatch Mountains and skies, and most importantly, the people who made this possible, the guests," Brimhall wrote.

Brimhall has until Sept. 1 to complete the mural in time for the county's annual gala, scheduled for early September, but he's confident he can get it done.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com