Born to Run
Photography: Patrick Cone
When Marianne Cone decided to run for a seat on the city council, many people in town thought it was about time. After all, who knew Park City better than the little girl from a local mining camp turned longtime resident, artist, educator and dedicated community activist? Her personal history with the town, including highly-visible public art projects and a passionate involvement in community life, has given her a unique bird’s-eye view of the programs and developments undertaken by the
city government.
Marianne’s earliest memories are based in Park City. In the 1940s, her father, John Cone, was an engineer in the New Park Mine and the family lived close by in the little mining town of Keatley, now long gone and replaced by present-day Deer Crest. “When the trains started to come out, making so much noise, we moved onto Park Avenue, where we stayed until the mines closed in 1949,” said Marianne. Continuing to pursue work in the mines, John Cone relocated his family to Carbon and Juab counties. However, a mining accident compelled a move to her grandparents’ house on the Weber River in Oakley [where brother Pat Cone has lived for the past 30 years] after her father broke his back during a rock burst. Following his recovery, John took a position as an engineering professor at the University of Utah and the family settled in Salt Lake City. Marianne finished her education in Salt Lake City schools, and earned a Fine Arts degree [cum laude] and teaching certificate at the University of Utah.
But memories of Park City had taken up space in the back of Marianne’s mind, and she felt herself lured back in 1971, looking for the strong sense of community she remembered from childhood. “The mining camps were really tight,” she said. “There was a lot of camaraderie and tolerance. I moved back here for the people I had known as a kid.” And she’s been here ever since, with only brief forays out of the area—for the National Endowment of the Arts “Artist-in-the-Schools-Program” in Logan and Springville in the ’75/’76 school year, followed by a duo of yearlong time-outs to travel and study art in Europe.
Recalling experiences during those and other travels, Marianne incorporates her memories into the paintings she is renowned for. “I love the variations in landscape,” she said, “especially between England/Scotland and Spain. The rural architecture is such a contrast—green vs. brown. I did a series called ‘Farm Configurations’ that I revisit from time to time here in the western states.”
In describing her personal and artistic orientation, Marianne says, “I am a Westerner. I grew up enjoying the expanse, beauty and freedom of the landscape. Perhaps it is the nostalgia of my middle age that attracts me to scenes that are quickly disappearing from the West—old gas stations, farm configurations and homemade buildings.”
Marianne may be best known for the mural she was commissioned to paint on the interior wall of the Park City Transit Center. “The sheer size made it amazing. I didn’t realize the physical strength it took to work so large,” Marianne recalls of painting the 30-foot by 14-foot mural that depicts every kind of transportation mode imaginable in Park City. “I would return [home] after a couple of hours with arms too tired to continue.” Additional murals can be seen in the Marriott Summit Watch’s parking garage, where Marianne painted scenes borrowed from Park City Museum’s collection of historic photographs. “Good public art enhances life in a community and engages the viewer to interact and ponder the artist’s work.” Additionally, she has participated in numerous juried and invitational exhibits in Park City and throughout Utah, and has been represented by several local and regional galleries.
Marianne is no stranger to the above-mentioned Park City Museum. She served as its director from 1988 to 1998. “We had a really good team and a lot of fun while we established good interpretative and educational exhibits. I got a computer system for the museum, which was a big deal at the time,” she said. Marianne was also part of a team that developed the Poison Creek Trail that runs through town. “I don’t think that would be possible today.” Marianne taught for 15 years at the Norwegian Outdoor Recreation Center, offering classes in skiing, hiking, wildflower identification and drawing, and giving nature tours. She has also served as interim director of the Kimball Art Center just prior to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Marianne has tackled her role as Park City councilwoman with as much enthusiasm as she has taken on in her other community roles. “One of the things I really enjoy about working on the council, as well as at the Museum, is the team work. It’s a fun way to solve problems, and I really don’t like being in a leadership role. [Within the council setting], I am committed to working on an assisted living facility so that our friends, neighbors and relatives don’t have to be ‘sent away’ when they have a physical problem to overcome,” she proclaims. “I am also adamant about protecting this town, working on a committee to rehab some of the city’s historic buildings. Additionally, one of the challenges is [to] limit the growing amounts of traffic. I think with our small physical area we should rely more on our transit system, bicycle paths and sidewalks to get around.”
Marianne and her husband, David Chaplin, also artist and educator, are great examples to follow in adhering to this model of low-impact transportation, as well as housing. They live in a small historic house in Old Town where they both maintain their studios. “When we want more space, we go outside: walking, skiing or cycling up the hill or down to town. David and I love to travel on bicycles. It gives us a closer perspective to the environment as we pedal along without obstructions to the view or barriers from passersby.”
In fact, a perfect summer day for Marianne would include walking outside early in the morning with a cup of tea to check out the sunrise, or new growth in the garden, and have a chat with the birds at the birdbath. She would then go for a walk or bike ride, work a few hours or attend to city issues, dig in the garden, have dinner outside on the deck, and snuggle in for the evening with David and their cat. Not a bad life at all for a miner’s kid.
Sedona Callahan is a Park City writer and photographer. She loves living in a community with such worthy people.
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