Summit County Public Art Board's Favorite Local Pieces // The Future is Now
In this new blog series we will feature Summit County Public Art Board Member’s favorite local art pieces. See Summit County public art through new eyes and experience what makes these pieces so special according to our Summit County Public Art Board members. Once you’ve read our blog, go experience these public art pieces for yourself!
In this blog post we feature a favorite from Summit County Public Art Board member, Betsey Devaney.
Her favorite Summit County Public Art piece is The Future is Now mural, a youth engagement public art project produced by the Summit County Public Art Advisory Board, Park City Summit County Arts Council, and Basin Recreation, created by Bisco Smith and located in the tunnel under Highway 224.
“A few years ago we as a Board selected Bisco Smith as the artist. When he arrived in town and started the project, we would go over to the tunnel and see him working with the kids. He incorporated local youth to help design and create the mural. He really encouraged them to come up with words having to do with the future that were meaningful to them, and he helped show them how to incorporate the words with the art.” Says Betsey. “Every morning we would go down to the tunnel with some coffee and donuts because it was so cold when they were working on the art, then we would stick around and watch the kids come and work with him on the mural. Some of the words that the kids used had to do with recent events that happened in the area relating to recent suicides and illnesses that their peers experienced. This aspect made the mural so much more powerful and meaningful.”
Beginning in 2016 the Summit County Public Art Advisory Board in partnership with the Arts Council and Basin Recreation began to explore ways to engage local youth in a public art project. The result is The Future is Now which was designed to engage local young people in the creation of an interactive street art mural in the tunnel under Highway 224 -- a literal and figurative connection point for the Park City community.
The partners put out a Call for Artists in December 2017, and made their final selection in March 2018. The selected artist for the project is Bisco Smith, an American visual artist with roots in music, graffiti, and street art currently residing in Queens, NY and operating studios in both Los Angeles and New York City. He has created similar works in the Middle East, NYC, and LA.
Youth engagement was an imperative element to the project's success. The goal was to create a positive outlet for a diverse group of young people to work together, express themselves, and collectively create a vision of the future.
To achieve this goal, the partners have developed a series of Creative Workshops planned for May 9 & 10, 2018 from 5:30 to 7:30pm at Skullcandy HQ in Kimball Junction. These workshops were open to all Summit County youth between the ages of 11 to 17.
The workshops offered a unique opportunity for Summit County youth to work with an internationally-known street artist to create a work of art with meaning. Youth participants will be invited to express their voices and creativity while collaborating, conceptualizing, and executing a mural that reflects their vision of community, illustrating their hopes for the future.
Workshop participants came together the following weekend to help Bisco Smith produce the mural. They shared their hopes for the future on the mural, which will now live on for years to come. The words and phrases displayed on the wall all present a hopeful, positive view for the future.
Learn more about the Summit County Art Board here. Learn more about the Future is Now mural here, and visit the mural in the tunnel under Highway 224.
Thanks to SCPAAB member Betsey Devaney for sharing! Stay tuned for more Summit County public art favorites in the coming months.