Adam Price, a well-known figure in the Salt Lake contemporary art community, has been selected to serve as the executive director of the Salt Lake Art Center.

The board of trustees of the Salt Lake Art Center made the announcement on Thursday.

Catherine Kanter, board president, said Price is a "driving force in contemporary art in Salt Lake City, Utah and throughout the region" and the board could not be more pleased.

Price is best known for founding the award-winning 337 Project, which works with local artists to create contemporary art in nontraditional context.

As part of the project, 150 Utah artists transformed a two-story building into an art piece, which was exhibited for six days before the building was demolished.

During those six days, more than 10,000 people waited in lines up to four hours long to see the visual art.

Other 337 Project works include the transformation of a vegetable truck into a mobile art gallery and an art series on garage doors.

The project received the Mayor's Service to the Arts Award, the Best of State Medallion for Arts in Education, the Best of State Statute for Overall Winner in the education category, and Best of Broadway Award for Service to the Arts.

Aside from his work in the art community, Price is also a local attorney, Harvard graduate and former president of the Salt Lake Art Center board of trustees.

Price said he appreciates the "invaluable" leadership of former executive director Heather Ferrell and looks forward to the future of the Salt Lake Art Center.

"The Art Center needs to be responsive to the needs of both a growing artistic community and of a rapidly changing citizenry in Salt Lake County and beyond," Price said in a press release. "At its best, contemporary visual art can be part of an experience that is both thought-provoking and magical."

e-mail: bbrown@desnews.com