‘Bonneville Reliquary’
Commissioned by Salt Lake City Corporation for Redevelopment Agency: Sugarhouse District, 2100 South 1020 East, Salt Lake City, UtahThe Bonneville Cutthroat trout is Utah’s State fish. This trout species was native to the ancient Lake Bonneville, and can still be found in mountain lakes and streams. This series of seven outdoor bronze sculptures consists of 5 Bonneville Cutthroat trout swimming through hoops allegorical of a river, and 2 large medallions in low relief abstractly picturing a fish underwater and a splash.
The trout are depicted swimming upstream, not in annual spawn, but in a last retreat from the disappearing vestiges of riparian ecosystem, in particular Parley's Creek which is diverted underground one block to the east of the sculpture, and the underground Canal System constructed for agriculture in the 19th Century which flows through the area. As urban sprawl makes harder demands on the delicate local ecosystem, the last remnants of bio-diversity vanish unnoticed.
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