Downtown Salt Lake City: Hidden Waters
Celebrating water in our oasis on the desert’s edge.
The Hidden Waters installation consisted of a series of artist-commissioned Water Drops. The installation was initially focused on North Temple, where City Creek flowed aboveground in City Creek Park and then passed underneath State Street in a culvert. It connected City Creek Park to the Folsom Trail corridor at 600 West in Salt Lake City.
The installation culturally daylighted the creek—not by physically bringing the creek back to the surface, but by bringing the idea that the creek ran underneath the city to the surface of the collective consciousness. It highlighted a past stream daylighting project at City Creek Park and a future project to uncover City Creek along the Folsom Trail.
The installation explored narratives that highlighted Salt Lake City’s relationship with water, such as the Indigenous Peoples of the Salt Lake Valley, the Greatest Snow on Earth, the 2034 Winter Olympics as water sports, stream daylighting, the Great Salt Lake, and more.
Goals
Increase knowledge of Salt Lake City’s hydrology—its creeks, the Jordan River, and Great Salt Lake—and issues related to water
Highlight City Creek Park and the City Creek at Folsom Trail project to create east-west connections
Increase pedestrian traffic from Central Business District to North Temple and the Folsom Trail corridor
Connect people to our waterways and highlight cultural narratives around water through a hopeful, solutions-based lens
Background
This project has received funding from
the artists
In 2024, the Hidden Waters installation was chosen as one of the first recipients of The Blocks’ Co-Create Program. This program aims to foster collaborative endeavors to produce distinctive art installations, performances, activations, and projects within the boundaries of Downtown Salt Lake City, otherwise known as The Blocks Arts District.
Hidden waters unveiling
