A Sky-High Masterpiece: 'The Peaks' by Gordon Huether Soars at SLC Airport

One of the largest public art installations of its kind joins innovative series that includes ‘The Canyon’, ‘The Falls’ and soon-to-be-unveiled ‘River Tunnel’

SALT LAKE CITY , UT, USA, November 8, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In a ceremony led by airport executives, city officials and business and community leaders, a major 10-story-high artwork “The Peaks” by artist Gordon Huether was unveiled today at Salt Lake City International Airport. Travelers going in and out of this major Western U.S. travel hub are now welcomed by a 90-foot-tall, 75-ton gateway entry feature that evokes five mountains of weathered Corten steel -- inspired by the Wasatch Mountains and paying tribute to Utah’s five Native American tribes as well as the five elements of the natural world: air, earth, fire, space and water.

“Most large U.S. airports have an entry feature that welcomes travelers, and now ‘The Peaks’ not only marks the entrance to SLC airport but highlights Utah’s magnificent mountains, while paying homage to the original custodians of the land,” said Bill Wyatt, executive director, Salt Lake City Department of Airports.

“We are both humbled and proud to have created ‘The Peaks’ for the community of Salt Lake City,” said Huether. “This sculpture continues the theme established throughout the airport which is to celebrate the natural beauty of Utah.”

“Public art is an unsung hero in transportation, by transforming the experience of getting to destinations which can be less than desirable, into an uplifting, exciting, forward-moving beacon to our next adventure,” said Toni Sikes, CEO of CODAworx, a leading public art resource organization. “Longtime CODAworx member Gordon Huether is the embodiment of that spirit and has manifested it once again in the 90-foot tall, 75-ton ‘The Peaks’, one of the largest airport artworks of its kind.”

While ‘The Peaks’ tallest structure stands 90 feet high, its smallest structure is 40 feet high. The skin of each of the five sculptures has a graphic of the globe etched on the surface. A glass orb, placed near the top of the tallest peak, pinpoints the location of Utah on the globe.

‘The Peaks’ is the latest chapter in an innovative series of installations at SLC Airport, which commissioned Huether at the inception of its massive $4 billion airport transformation project. Huether created a cohesive program of site-specific artworks that support wayfinding and branding while also featuring the beauty, history and attractions of Salt Lake City and the State of Utah –supporting the tourism and economic development of the region. Huether’s first major artworks for SLC, the 360-foot-long ‘The Canyon’ and 65-foot-high ‘The Falls’ are already complete. ‘River Tunnel’ is set to debut in 2024 as an immersive experience in the airport’s thousand-foot-long underground connector.

About Gordon Huether Studio
Gordon Huether is a Napa, CA-based artist specializing in large-scale, site-specific permanent art installations. With hundreds of works across a decades-long career, Huether's most complex commission to date is the seven architecturally integrated installations for the Salt Lake City International Airport, completing in stages from 2020 to 2024. For more information, visit us at www.gordonhuether.com.

Darcy Huether
Gordon Huether Studio
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