This mural was commissioned for the Salt Lake City Public Library when this building was constructed in the early 1960s. It was painted on canvases mounted on panels and assembled to an overall size of 27 x 14 feet.
Doug Snow, a Salt Lake City native, studied at Columbia University and earned his BFA and MFA degrees from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and when he returned to Utah, joined the faculty in the University of Utah’s Department of Art. He served as the department chair from 1957-63 and brought modern and contemporary influences to the U’s Art Department. Doug Snow was one of the state’s leading and most significant abstractionist painters.
The mural underwent complete cleaning and restoration in 2012 following the renovation of the building for, what is now, the Leonardo.
Artwork featured in header: Through the Safety Lens by Alexander Tylevich