Art Talk & Workshop July 29 in Coalville

The Summit County Public Art Advisory Board, with support from the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County, will produce a sculptural artwork to be installed in August 2023 at the Ledges Event Center in Coalville, UT. The Ledges Event Center is named after the nearby cliff ledges, which are adorned with ancient pictographs and petroglyphs—a unique feature of the area. The Ledges Sculpture will honor the natural beauty of the Coalville Ledges, and will include the interactive element of magnets printed in a variety of artistic shapes that will be placed onto the sculpture, representing a collection of “modern pictographs.”

Muralist Sasha Primo, who painted the 2022 Hoytsville Historical Mural, will return this month to Summit County with his colleague Romeo Sosa to install the Ledges Sculpture. Sasha has worked internationally, creating large-scale art projects in his home country of Argentina as well as abroad; his method focuses on community involvement. Romeo is an industrial artist with over 13 years of experience in creating design furniture and sculptural art installations; his artistic exploration is based on the implementation of new materials, technologies, and techniques.

The event will kick off with an Art Talk by Elizabeth Hora, a Public Archeologist with the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, and Lucie Washakie of the Eastern Shoshone Nation who will speak on the history and current significance of the Ledges rock art. Artists Sasha and Romeo will then lead participants in a series of creative activities that will lead to the creation of “modern pictograph” magnets to be placed upon the finished sculpture, reflecting the essence of contemporary society in the area and providing a platform for expression, as well as honoring the original rock art and its Indigenous creators.

This Art Talk & Community Workshop is a chance to meet Sasha and Romeo, to learn about the ancient Ledges rock art, and to influence the design of the magnets that will adorn the Ledges Sculpture! This event is free and open to all Summit County residents, and offers education and activities for both adults and children. Coalville and North Summit residents are highly encouraged to attend. Register for the event here: Eventbrite.

Ledges Sculpture Art Talk & Community Workshop

Date: Saturday, July 29th, 2023

Time: 3-5pm

Location: Ledges Event Center, 202 Park Road, Coalville, UT 84017

To learn more about Sasha, visit his website or follow him on instagram @sasha_primo. To learn more about Romeo, follow him on instagram at @romeososaig.

The Ledges Sculpture Project is made possible by Summit County’s 1% for Public Art Policy, which assures that 1% of the budget of county capital improvement projects be set aside to support the installation of new public art at Summit County construction or renovation sites.

Theodosia Henney