Student murals brighten businesses

SALT LAKE CITY — As a kid, Chelsea Rushton remembers the sandstone spires at Bryce Canyon National Park looking a lot like castles.

She tried to portray that sort of childish imagination in a 213-square-foot mural she designed at Primary Children's Medical Center, a public art project completed by University of Utah fine arts students.

Doctors had wanted to make the pediatric surgery/gastroenterology waiting room more inviting, while incorporating the existing colors and portraying Utah landscapes in a fun way.

"Utah landscapes are done a lot, and they're not terribly exciting," Rushton said. The fine arts major at the U. said she wanted to show Utah in a "fairy tale setting," so her mural includes red rock Moab arches turning into castles while a child reads a bedtime story under a sky filled with whimsical stars.

"It's really exciting to see your 5-inch drawing come to life as a more than 200-foot mural on the wall of a public place," she said. Rushton's idea was chosen out of 15 students in U. painting and drawing professor V. Kim Martinez's murals course. Doctors whittled it down to five finalists and then hospital visitors were asked which painting they liked best.

Martinez said the students studied public art and investigated the hospital's history prior to presenting their pieces, which gave them experience in a public forum.

"I receive about 15 inquiries a year from various organizations requesting our insight and skills, indicating to me that the community values the power of art and its ability to transform a community," Martinez said. Another student's work was selected for the South Salt Lake Columbus Center, a project sponsored by the South Salt Lake Arts Council.

Kurt Coppersmith, also a U. fine arts major, designed the 740-square-foot mural to depict a bird's-eye view of the Salt Lake valley, including pop-up paintings to illustrate historical and contemporary activities of the South Salt Lake community. In the middle of the gigantic painting are landmarks viewed from the state Capitol sequentially progressing to the Columbus Center, Pioneer Craft House and Granite High School.

"I don't feel like the final piece is my work, it's everyone who participated," he said. "The idea changes with the input and ideas of everyone in the class, and you always hope that it just makes it better." He said one of the biggest challenges is getting everyone to draw and paint with the same style.