Part of Wake the Great Salt Lake, a Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge winner, the work urges collective action to protect the lake’s endangered ecosystem This is his first piece in Utah and the Intermountain West
(PRUnderground) September 18th, 2025
Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson — renowned for installations that challenge the way we perceive and co-create our environments — has been selected to create a site-specific artwork as part of Wake the Great Salt Lake, a city-wide temporary public art project supported by the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge. Wake the Great Salt Lake activates artistic voices to bring hope, unity, and action to restore and preserve the rapidly declining Great Salt Lake ecosystem.
Set to debut in March 2026, Eliasson’s artwork titled, ‘A symphony of disappearing sounds for the Great Salt Lake,’ will bring light, sound, and movement to Salt Lake City. The artwork, which incorporates field recordings of Great Salt Lake wildlife with an evolving light projection, highlights the intertwined connections between Salt Lake City and its environment. The artist hopes to promote dialogue and the urgent conservation efforts needed to protect the threatened ecosystems of the region.
“It is an honor for me to have been selected to collaborate with Wake the Great Salt Lake. I’m impressed by the critical work that many in the local community are currently doing to secure the future of the lake. Art, I believe, can contribute by offering fresh ways to connect sensorially with the reality of an issue that we may have become numb to. Personally, I find great inspiration in considering how we humans fit into larger, more-than-human systems that comprise land, water, air, and other species. The artwork I envision for Salt Lake City aims to make tangible some of these often overlooked interconnections. I hope it can amplify the efforts that are already underway and bring people together around a positive vision of a future for the lake and its environment.“ — Olafur Eliasson
This marks the first time Eliasson has created a commissioned public work in the Intermountain West and Salt Lake City, a city increasingly on the cultural map.
A symphony of disappearing sounds for the Great Salt Lake, builds on a year-long collection of temporary public art installations and activations by 12 Utah-based artists across the city. Eliasson’s artwork serves as the culminating capstone, bringing national attention to a community-rooted initiative that has elevated both emerging voices and shared values through art.
“Environmental issues like the decline of the Great Salt Lake don’t occur in a vacuum — they are deeply connected to global climate systems and have ripple effects that extend far beyond our region. Caring for the lake means caring for air quality, wildlife, and the well-being of communities both near and far. Addressing this crisis requires collaboration across all sectors — government, science, business, and the arts. We know the arts have a unique power to affect change, translating complex issues into human stories that move people to act. We are honored to partner with Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mayor Erin Mendenhall’s Office, Olafur Eliasson, and the many dedicated local artists who care deeply about the Great Salt Lake.” — Felicia Baca, Director, Salt Lake City Arts Council
Wake the Great Salt Lake was one of only eight cities nationwide selected from 154 city applicants for this round of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge. Through this initiative, Salt Lake City is bringing together international artists, local voices, civic partners, and community groups to co-create a conversation about the restoration and preservation of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem. The selection of Eliasson, and the scope of his commission, is a bold signal of Salt Lake’s artistic ambition and collaborative spirit.
“Salt Lake City has ambitiously presented a range of art projects in each city council district to highlight the Great Salt Lake’s decline. By working collaboratively with artists, nonprofits, scientists, and residents, Wake the Great Salt Lake is beautifying communities, strengthening social cohesion, and creating excitement with unique cultural interventions.” — Stephanie Dockery, Bloomberg Philanthropies
The announcement and interview about the commissioned piece went live in The Art Newspaper this month, in anticipation of the spring unveiling.
Additional details — including dates and location — will be shared in early 2026
About Olafur Eliasson
The works of Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967) explore the relevance of art in the world at large. Since 1997, his wide-ranging solo shows – featuring installations, paintings, sculptures, photography, and film – have appeared in major museums around the globe.
Eliasson is internationally-renowned for his public installations that challenge the way we perceive and co-create our environments. In 2003, he made ‘The weather project’, a glowing indoor sun shrouded in mist at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in London. In 2008, Eliasson constructed four expansive artificial waterfalls along the Manhattan and Brooklyn shorelines for ‘The New York City Waterfalls’. He has also explored art’s potential to address climate change: for ‘Ice Watch’, he brought large blocks of free-floating glacial ice to the city centres of Copenhagen in 2014, Paris in 2015, and London in 2018. Passers-by could touch fragments of the Greenlandic glacial ice and witness its fragility as it disappeared before them. On the occasion of the 2020 German Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Eliasson created ‘Earth Speakr’ together with children around the world and support from the German Federal Foreign Office; the global artwork invites kids to speak up for the planet. In 2024, Eliasson broadcast ‘Lifeworld’ on screens in iconic public spaces around the world, including Piccadilly Circus; Time Square; and K-Pop Square, Seoul. Commissioned by CIRCA, the short, blurred sequences transported passers-by into a space of uncertainty unlike the highly defined city spaces they are used to.
Located in Berlin, Studio Olafur Eliasson comprises a large team of craftspeople, architects, archivists, researchers, administrators, cooks, art historians, and specialised technicians.
About Wake the Great Salt Lake
Wake the Great Salt Lake is a temporary public art project that aims to educate and inspire residents and visitors to understand and prevent the further decline of the Great Salt Lake. The project is a partnership of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge with additional support from Kem and Carolyn Gardner, the Marcia and John Price Family Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Zions Bank, Shaelene Gee, the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, Lawrence T. Janet T. Dee Foundation, Delta Air Lines, and other funders. For more information, please visit wakegsl.org
About Salt Lake City Arts Council
The Salt Lake City Arts Council promotes, presents, and supports artists, arts organizations, and arts activities in order to further the development of the arts community and to benefit the public by expanding awareness, access, and participation. For more information, please visit saltlakearts.org
About the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office
Mayor Erin Mendenhall is the mayor of Salt Lake City, the capital and most populous city in Utah, the fastest-growing state in the country. As the hub of the economy, the arts, and sports for the region, Salt Lake City is committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative, and sustainable community. With a focus on quality of life, Salt Lake City continues to be a destination for both residents and visitors alike, having hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and welcoming the world again for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. An elected mayor, who serves as the chief executive, and seven part-time City Council members govern the City. For more information, visit slc.gov.
About the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge brings together cities and their leaders, residents, and artists to develop temporary public art projects that address important civic issues in their communities. In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies invited U.S. cities with 30,000 residents or more to apply for up to $1 million in funding to create temporary public art projects that address important civic issues and demonstrate an ability to generate public-private collaborations, celebrate creativity and urban identity, and strengthen local economies. More than 150 cities from 40 U.S. states applied. Bloomberg Philanthropies selected eight winning cities, including Salt Lake City, to develop projects focused on local challenges. Since launching in 2014, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge has spurred more than $100 million in economic benefits for participating cities and action across a range of civic issues. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org.
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