Out of the Blue or The 9th & 9th Whale

 Back in 2022 a piece of artwork sprouted up in the middle of a round about in the 9th & 9th neighborhood. Apparently you either love it or hate it, or, as it would seem, worship it. I personally think it is neat. We had a little bit of daylight after our hike today, but not really enough to do what I had planned. So, since I have been wanting to see this anyway we decided to finally come check it out. This is not really a hike, but we walked all the way around it so I'll treat it like one.

Quick Details:

Length: it’s about 610 feet, or 1/10 of a mile to circumnavigate it. Plus whatever distance you parked.
Trail Type: Loop.
Difficulty: DR2. Paved and pretty flat. Can also be a DR1 (drive up and see).
Elevation Gain: NA
Restroom: No.
Dogs? Yes, city leash laws apply, and well, they probably wouldn’t enjoy it.
Other Info:

To Get Here:

Take i15 to the 13th South exit (or 6th south if coming from the north). Work your way down to 9th south via any major artery such as State St or 7th East. Turn right. Head up to 11th east, you won’t miss it.

I can’t say for sure, but this looks like the chicken that use to be next to i15 where it curves just before the Davis County line (Passenger Seat Photography (PSP). 

Here it is from Google earth circa 2015. Playing around on Google earth, it looks like that chicken was removed somewhere between Sep 2020 and Aug 2021… so it could be one and the same. I went down the rabbit hole, this restaurant appears to have opened in 2020 - 21ish so that seems to fit too.  Sorry so off topic, but I am like 99% sure it is the same one.

Edit: We drove by the i15 adjacent one the following week and it appears to be back, and now bright blue! So either they painted it, or sold it and obtained a new one. Either way, I am convinced they are both from the same mold.

Approaching it from the west (PSP).

The Trail:

There is plenty of street parking around it, even on a Saturday we had no trouble finding a spot nearby.

We found a couple little poems carved into the sidewalk. Here is the first one.

Sheltered by trees,
Nurtured by pioneers
past and present -
what joyous artisans
dreamed these connections
we love?

We started from the southeast corner.

This was sculpted out of fiberglass and steel by artist Stephen J. Kessler. It “bursts” out of the middle of a round about.

From the south.

The sign describes it as full size humpback whale, which I am taking that to mean life size? I can’t say for certain as I have never seen this much of a humpback, or any other whale in person. Just some spouts and a quick glimpse of flippers once in Oregon.

From the west.

The whale definitely attracts some interesting people. This guy drove around it twice while screaming “whale whale whale” over and over again in a sing song voice. It really made us laugh so eventually he said: “you guys get it” then continued on his merry way. LOL alrighty then.

The current mural painted on it is called Point Of Reference by artist Michael Murdock. It is an abstract representation of sunrises and sunsets he had observed from here in the last 11 years.

The sign says that Out of the Blue represents the dynamism of the community so the mural will change every couple of years.

 

From the northwest.

The artist, who moved here as a teenager and lived here for 2 decades describes the 9th and 9th area as “Unexpected and out of the blue. A community where people from all backgrounds, beliefs and ideas migrate and feel a sense of belonging.  A community that bursts through expectations; that commands respect for nature, and varied ideas and identities…” Out of the Blue is a symbol of community, resilience and harmony.

Elms and poplars speak as you walk by.
A tapestry becomes a community,
a joyous circle of inclusion and diversity.
Walk with us.

This business called The Bridal Studio has some interesting displays. At least we know they are LGBTQ friendly.

From the north.

The project was made possible through the Salt Lake City Public Arts Council, with support from the Salt Lake Art Design Board, Salt Lake City Transportation departments, the East Liberty Park Community Organization, and the 9th and 9th Community.

The informative sign. I have shared pretty much all of the information on it throughout this post.

From the northeast. 

When it was still being built, I originally thought this statue might have something to do with the old urban legend of the whales in the Great Salt Lake, but have since learned that it's about the unexpected.

From the north.

Again, I really like it. Round abouts generally just have wasted space in the center, so why not add some artwork? 

One last look from the southeast side.

This is along the 9 line trail which we found the west end of it near the Jordan River.

Hazy day heading home (PSP).

Well that was a neat piece of art, with some bonus crazy fun fan. I think it is a great addition, and would love to see more like this. Plus the bonus of being 99% sure I noticed another piece of art that moved. The round about is weird in that in the 10 or so minutes we were there we noticed periods of heavy traffic and little to no traffic. I assume nearby traffic lights might be the cause. But, it seems generally safe to explore, cars stopped to allow us to cross the crossings. 10 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, it’s paved, pretty flat and short. DR2.

Dogs are technically allowed with city leash laws, however, I can’t imagine they would enjoy it. I wouldn’t bring mine unless this was an add-on for something nearby that they would enjoy.