Salt Lake City’s Must-See Street Art

Each location offers a great photo op as well as a story to pass on.

Written By Sara Hobbs

Out of the Blue by Stephen Kesler | Arianna Rees

While adding texture to Salt Lake City as a whole, the more than 80 murals and art installations are evidence that a specific stairwell, wall or building can have its own story to tell. Urban street artists work within the constraints of falling plaster, electric boxes and zoning codes to bring flavor and perspective to the ordinary and mundane. Each mural is a testament that the import of a city isn’t solely defined by its tallest buildings, fine art museums or impressive statehouses.

For a complete list of the city’s murals and public art, as well as an interactive map, explore THE BLOCKS interactive map.

Murals

Ave Maria

By El Mac & Retna
156 E. 200 S.
A few blocks from The Cathedral of the Madeleine, this 44-foot mural depicts the Virgin Mary gracefully facing the majestic mountains and bearing her open heart. Her stature and symbolism evoke a sense of reverence and warmth for viewers.

Este Barrio No Se Vende

By Jessica Sabolgal
708 W. N. Temple
This portrait of Salt Lake community activist, Ella Mendoz, places her standing proud next to the words, “Este Barrio No Se Vende,” meaning “This Neighborhood Is Not For Sale.” The piece, created by a first generation Colombian-American artist, casts light on the resilience of the Salt Lake City’s west-side community and its work to manage gentrification (Read: You Are Where You Eat: Salt Lake Latino’s Perfected Flavors)

Utah Jazz Mural by Karabo Poppy Moletsane

Este Barrio No Se Vende Mural by Jessica Sabolgal

Photo: Jim Urquhart

"Each mural is a testament that the import of a city isn’t solely defined by its tallest buildings, fine art museums or impressive statehouses."

Utah Jazz Anniversary Mural by Trent Call

Photo: Sylvia Lawrence/Visit Salt Lake

Book Mural

Artist Unknown
222 S. Main St.
In the 222 skyscraper’s alley, this mural is a bookworm’s dream — featuring a row of giant book spines reading iconic titles such as, “Harry Potter,” “The Cat in the Hat” and “The Grapes of Wrath.” Make sure to pay close attention to the bindings — they are replicas of rare and unique editions.

Legends of Rock

By Gina Ribadau
162 S. 400 W.
Gaze in the eyes of rock legends Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Prince, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin. Nearby, look for 8-foot cubes doning new mural additions — painted on International Women’s Day in 2020 — of Dolly Parton, Bjork, Diana Ross, Amy Winehouse, and others. We’re sorry if your favorite rock song gets stuck in your head as you walk by.

SLC Pepper

By Jann Haworth
250 S. 400 W.
Haworth, an artist associated with the 1960s Pop Art Movement in Great Britain and a current Utah resident, co-designed the cover of The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in 1967. Nearly forty years later, she decided to recreate the piece in mural form with contributions from some 30 other artists and the goal of showing a more balanced crowd — she included more women, influential people and people of various ethnicities.

Utah Jazz Mural

By Karabo Poppy Moletsane
173 W. Broadway
This creation features a unification of the Utah Jazz, the state’s natural beauty and the artist’s South African roots. Moletsane was 26 when she painted the mural, and her artistic portfolio includes work for Nike, Google and Apple.

Utah!

By Evan Jed
741 Kilby Court
This mural outside the beloved music venue Kilby Court is a melting-pot of honeycomb patterns, Utah-centric symbols, and sun-colored and blue-sky tinted paint all emanating a strong sense of grooviness.

Utah Jazz Anniversary Mural

By Trent Call
Main Street & 100 S.
This cartoon-esque, colorful collage celebrated the Utah Jazz’s 40th anniversary in 2018. At first glance, fans will instantly understand what’s going on in the piece, but others may have to do some research (or ask a local walking by).

"While adding texture to Salt Lake City as a whole, the more than 80 murals and art installations are evidence that a specific stairwell, wall or building can have its own story to tell."

Asteroid Landing Softly by Kazuo Matsubayashi.

Art Installations

Asteroid Landing Softly

By Kazuo Matsubayashi
201 S. Main St. (Gallivan Center)
The piece functions as a sundial with its structure pulling inspiration from Southern Utah’s red rock landscape.

First to Vote Sculpture

By Kelsey Harrison and Jason Manley
300 N. State St. (Council Hall Building)
Placed in front of the building where the first female vote was cast under equal suffrage laws in the United States, this interactive sculpture allows viewers to contemplate the achievements of Utah and national suffragists and women’s advocates, as well as voting rights achievements for minorities throughout the 20th century (Follow the itinerary: Attagirl! Women's History and Highlights). Read more about Utah women's history and stories at visitutah.com/she

Point of View

By Aaron T. Stephan
100 S. W. Temple
This 2016 installation features a collaboration of more than 150 standard road signs along with the message, “You Are Here.” The red bench on the sidewalk welcome passersby to sit and become part of the artwork.

Out of the Blue (a.k.a. "The 9th and 9th Whale")

By Stephen Kesler
900 S. and 1100 E.

Unveiled in 2022, the 23-foot-tall sculpture sits in a roundabout in Salt Lake City's 9th and 9th neighborhood. Designed by Stephen Kesler, the piece is described by the Salt Lake City Arts Council as "a symbol of community, resilience, and harmony." The sculpture has developed a bit of a cult following, with many winter enthusiasts giving thanks to "The Whale" for the record annual snowfall (903") that fell in the year after its installation. It's even inspired some epic local Halloween costumes, as pictured at the top of this article.

Sphinx

By Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. and Maurice Brooks749 E. 500 S. (Gilgal Sculpture Garden)
Part of Gilgal Sculpture Garden, the Sphinx displays Joseph Smith's head — he's the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — on the body of a sphinx, an ancient symbol of riddles and mystery. The sculpture aims to represent Child’s belief that the answers to life’s great questions cannot be discovered with the intellect, but through faith.

Wave Harmonics

By Louise Bertelsen and Po Shu Wang
475 S. 300 E.
This interactive water sculpture is inspired by nature’s “Cymatics.” Viewers can step on a pedal and witness a demonstration of what the artists claim is “happening all around us.”

A map of Salt Lake City's murals.

Photo: Designed by Fell

Where to Find Salt Lake City's Murals

Utah-based design team Fell created an illustrated map of downtown Salt Lake City's murals. For a complete list of the city’s murals and public art, as well as an interactive map, explore THE BLOCKS interactive map.

About the Author – Sara Hobbs

Sara is a native of Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains. She found herself along the Wasatch Front after taking a pit-stop in Colorado, falling in love with a history buff and happily following his footsteps to the Salt Lake Valley. She’s a big fan of old souls and listening to “Cricket Sounds” on Spotify while she edits and writes content for the Utah Office of Tourism. After taking a gazillion personality tests, she’s still not sure whether she’s an introvert, extrovert or something-else-vert —— she assumes it depends on the day.

@VisitUtah

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Let's Talk Utah: Arts and Culture in Utah

Local artist, musician and writer Liz Lambson speaks about the vibrant arts and culture that thrive in Utah: "I'm so thankful I live in a place where people appreciate what I have to offer and ask me to share my talents with them." Take a peek at some of Liz’s work and hear about why she believes sharing diverse work is important for the community.