Gilgal Sculpture Garden.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Awhile back, I decided that I wanted to be a tourist in my own city. I don't expect to live here my whole life, so I want to take advantage of the beauty and sights around me. You know, actively love the place I live (because I do). In case you may have missed some of my adventures, I'll refresh your memory.

Hiking Ensign Peak
Hiking to Cecret Lake in the Albion Basin
Exploring Bingham Canyon Mine

Little by little, I'm going to make it through my list of places to see. And maybe sometime I'll share my list, in case you want to add to it. :)

This weekend, I went with my friend BRB to Gilgal Sculpture Garden in downtown Salt Lake. It's been on my list for a little while, simply because I heard about it on a couple of websites talking about interesting places to go in SLC.

To be honest, the sculpture garden sounded a little odd to me (with a sphynx of Joseph Smith? weird), but nevertheless, I wanted to check it out. BRB had a project for his art class which required him to go somewhere he'd never been before and take pictures (or draw them), so I suggested Gilgal Sculpture Garden. We had just enough time to make it there, walk around, and take a few shots before the sun went down.

The sculpture garden is located in the middle of a downtown block, rather tucked away from view, so many people don't even know it exists. As the pamphlet, which I picked up at the entrance, states, "Gilgal Garden is the legacy of Thomas Child's desire to give physical form to his deep-felt beliefs."

Job 19:23-27

With twelve original sculptures and over seventy stones engraved with scriptures, poems, and other literary texts, the park has a decidedly religious feel to it. The sculptures all symbolize some story in the scriptures or a religious theme. Mr. Child expressed these themes in completely different way than I would. Interesting, I thought, because most of the time I feel like I can connect with an artist through their work. In this case, the person I imagined, through viewing his art, is not someone I think I'd have much in common with. Nevertheless, I can respect his desire to express and share his beliefs through his talents.

One that was interesting to me was his depiction of the shattered giant from the Biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream found in the Old Testament in Daniel chapter 2.

All in all it was an interesting field trip. Not interesting enough to return, but interesting enough to see one man's beliefs expressed through his art.

I promise that my next "tourist in my own backyard" post will be more interesting... in a good way.
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