Salt Lake Public Art Collection: Bike Rack Murals
Six new artist-designed Bike Rack Murals were recently installed at the newly renovated Bonneville Boulevard Trailhead, adding vibrant, functional artwork to one of Salt Lake City’s most beloved foothill access points. Part of a broader effort to merge public art with recreation and sustainability, the project features hand-painted bike racks designed by ten local artists and commissioned by the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Public Art Program.
Each bike rack is a unique celebration of place, drawing on local ecology, personal outdoor experiences, and iconic Utah imagery to transform everyday infrastructure into community-driven artworks. The artworks were delivered to the City as completed, final pieces, highlighting the artists’ craftsmanship and individual style.
From wildflowers to wildlife, each design offers a personal reflection on the trails and their meaning to local residents. “This bike rack is a celebration of the neighbors we have up in the foothills,” said artist Caro Nilsson. “The absolute joy of paintbrush (flowers) exploding in colors that almost vibrate. I want us to remember that the simple act of our noticing, our awe, has the power to make the world around us that much more vibrant.”
“My mural design was heavily influenced by the presence of the Sego Lily cut into the middle of each wheel,” said Brooklyn Ottens, another participating artist. “As our state flower, I really wanted the Sego Lily to be the star of the show, so I used simple colors and heavy lines to accentuate the flower to create a vintage, pop art style bike rack.” The flower-shaped cutout, designed by local artist Derek Ballard, served as the central motif in each wheel.
The project was unveiled in May 2025 with Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, members of the Salt Lake City Public Lands Division, and several of the featured artists in attendance. It represents an innovative intersection of public art, environmental stewardship, and active transportation. The Bonneville Boulevard installation is the first of two trailhead sites to receive these artist-designed bike racks, with more to be installed later this year at the Popperton Park Trailhead.
For updates on this project and other work by the Public Art Program, follow @slc_publicartprogram on Instagram. The Public Art Program is a service of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, a division of Salt Lake City’s Department of Economic Development.
About the Artists
Ten Utah-based artists were selected to design and hand-paint custom bike racks for installation at two foothill trailheads: Chuck Berrett, Xander Brickey, Elizabeth Carrington, Eric Fairclough, Valerie Jar, Bill Louis, Evan Jed Memmott, Caro Nilsson, Brooklyn Ottens, and Sri Whipple. In May 2025, the first six racks, designed by Brickey, Fairclough, Jar, Louis, Nilsson, and Ottens, were installed at the renovated Bonneville Boulevard Trailhead. Each design reflects the artist’s unique interpretation of place, ecology, and community, transforming functional infrastructure into vivid, site-specific artworks. The remaining four artist-designed racks will be installed at the Popperton Park Trailhead later this year. The sego lily cutout in the tires of each bike rack was designed by Derek Ballard.
