Park City is in its third phase of the “EmPOWERment” project meant to beautify utility boxes throughout the city. Per the theme, artists submitted works focusing on the natural environment, arts, culture, community and history of Park City.
A piece by local artist and teacher Debra Corrigan was selected to wrap one of Park City’s most coveted utility boxes: the one on Kearns Boulevard next to Wasatch Lighting.
In the Park City School District’s December podcast episode, Corrigan said one of the four panels of her box focuses on the power of education. It includes images of Park City High School, McPolin Elementary and Treasure Mountain Junior High.
“My first initial thought was, I'm empowered by education. So I wanted to make sure that I did the PC Hill and indications of the school district and district offices and the high school, elementary and Treasure right below the hill,” she said.
The panel also highlights the empowerment of community. In the design, Corrigan draws on Park City’s history through the depiction of Old Town’s Victorian houses. She also includes aspects from Park City Mountain, including the Town Lift chairlift and bridge.
In the second panel, Corrigan illustrated the McPolin barn, the large American flag hanging on one side and the green meadows surrounding it. Part of Park City’s trail system is also seen running into the next panel, which Corrigan said is a tribute to the empowerment of local and global athletes. It depicts pets on trails and the Olympic Park.
She said the final panel indicates the empowerment of the wildlife Parkites share their environment with.
“It's sort of a little bit of a tribute to Ecker Hill [Middle School] because we often see the sandhill cranes, coyotes, deer and elk right next to us in the Hi-Ute Ranch," she said. “And then the cranes are also a little bit of a symbol of for me, I'm half Japanese, and so they're a symbol of peace in our community.”
The top of the utility box will be adorned with an explosion of clouds.
Corrigan has been an art teacher at the Park City School District for 25 years. She said she’s glad for opportunities like this to show students art is a viable career.
“I went to an all-academic high school in San Francisco and it was discouraged to go into art. I was told I should be a doctor and a lawyer and all other kinds of things, and I would never make a living as an artist. And I did not listen to any of those people,” she said. “And I found that if you are passionate about something, you will be good. The money will follow.”
Public Art Advisory Board members and representatives from Rocky Mountain Power select the artists. All utility box artists receive $400 for their designs. The art pieces will be produced into wraps to cover the utility boxes and framed in the city office building.
