Gordon Huether fabricated a 96-foot profile mountain range sculpture that was integrated into the fencing along the light rail platform. A visitor to and an admirer of Utah, Huether took inspiration from the Wasatch Mountains as his muse to create a profile of the mountain range which he segmented vertically. The sculpture is fabricated from quarter-inch steel plates powder coated in an intense burnt orange one might see at sunset in Bryce Canyon. The sculpture varies in height from three feet to nearly nine feet and is highly engaging by both pedestrians and motorists. The sculpture is in essence passively kinetic as the plates and their spacing combine to create a mountain range that visually opens and closes dependent on the angle of viewing. Driving by in a car or riding in a TRAX train past The Canyon increases this dynamic since one is moving at a higher rate of speed.

Shawn Porter created two stainless steel, bronze, and patinaed copper waterway & wildlife sculptures referencing the Jordan River, riparian zones, wetlands and wildlife existing throughout the Salt Lake Valley. His passion for and interest in the wetlands prompted his “desire to incorporate naturalistic artwork as a physical, visual and conceptual waterway/ gateway that welcomes visitors to the naturally diverse state of Utah.” This formal construct of line, arc and sphere provide the viewer with a banking river way perspective from end to center and center to end of station platform. A representation of reed-grasses generate archways suggesting mass transit as personal transference through a natural gateway into the capital city.

Darl Thomas, a Salt Lake City native and experienced sculptor has a lifelong admiration of the “generation of power” and the beauty of the electrical components. Thomas modified the three standard concrete benches on the platform into turbines, much like you would see in a hydroelectric plant. These refined sculptural benches are made of stainless steel and bronze. Thomas also etched all of the glass windscreen and windbreak panels with elegant images of insulators, wires, and transmission towers in various stages of detail and photos from the archives of Rocky Mountain Power.

O’Neil created colorful collages which were translated onto glass fabricated in Germany for the two-18-foot windscreen panels on the platform. She spent four days in Salt Lake City doing extensive research on the Fairpark neighborhood through interviews, site and library visits, and studying archival records. Through the use of color, design, historical maps, photographs, and manuscripts she wove together a rich history of the cultural diversity and events of the Fairpark community including elements of the Jordan River, the Utah State Fairpark, North Temple, and a diverse community that includes people from all over the world.

These murals depict the strength and internal beauty of Salt Lake City which is intuitively implied through color, light, movement, gestures, and the content: land, city and people intertwined harmoniously. Chacón has long been a proponent of community involvement in her artwork; this is a collaboration between the artist, Mestizo Arts and Activism Collective and its youth researchers, Mestizo Institute of Culture and Arts, Mestizo Coffeehouse, 500+ community members, writers, and artist apprentices. Artist apprentices analyzed data from surveys they distributed in the community and created images for Chacón to translate and paint onto aluminum panels; forming the murals. Using the imagery as their inspiration, four community poets, including an 11 year-old boy, created the written works. The survey data helped inform the three themes represented in the murals: Past, Present, Future in the Arts; Education / Experiential Knowledge; Working Together / Building Utah.

Crystal Light encompasses 2,500 square feet of intricately etched glass and a response to the energy of the people of Salt Lake City using the dramatic weather as metaphor. Water in its different states embodies the energy exchange at the heart of this vibrant city as the ice and salt crystals and spectacular lightening storms are woven together. The structures of matter and energy patterns converge. Crystal Light responds to the shifting lights and colors of the surroundings. The sky and clouds become a part of the work as the etched forms are seen against this dramatic backdrop of light and color. At night, the viewer experiences a carefully choreographed lighting program that moves with the escalator and elevator.

Just as the Intermodal Hub connects many modes of transportation, Sato’s sculptures connect the many elements of this site:  train platforms, bus drop-offs, plazas and planters, buildings and open space. Sato stated about the Intermodal Hub project, “I am particularly interested in how transit facilities can make a contribution to the character of a place , as well as reflecting its immediate context and larger region.  The intermodal aspect is especially interesting, as it brings in elements of intersection, transference and change, all ideas that have been fundamental to much of my art thinking.”

With the assistance of Metal Arts Foundry, Sato’s vision combined the classic materials of bronze and stone to create suitcases, briefcases, trunks and other “carrying elements” associated with travel. Each sculpture is unique; together they tell the story of how we carry our belongings, identity, work and history with us as we move. There are a total of fifteen sculptures that can be found on the plaza, on the FrontRunner platform and on the TRAX platform.