Making Tracks
Photography: Derek Smith
What could be a more exciting legacy of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games than a monumental sculpture nestled into the Park City entry corridor landscape? This question spurred a worldwide design competition eliciting 30 proposals and a selection committee drawn from Park City’s arts community, City Council, and Chamber/Bureau. The 17-member committee received a host of suggestions about what the most fitting tribute would entail, with the most talked about question being: should the sculpture be representational or abstract? After much deliberation, the jury chose “Making Tracks,” a 17-foot, stainless steel, abstract sculpture by Cliff Garten of Marina Del Rey, California in conjunction with G Brown Design Inc. of Salt Lake City. The jury instinctively felt that viewers traveling 55 miles an hour could instantly picture dual meanings in its ribbon-like frame: the newly laid tracks of a skier or the double track of a mountain bike trail. It was even suggested that visitors to the Sundance Film Festival might envision reels of movie film as they drove by. Committee members also pictured the changing seasons making a fine backdrop to the open landscape of mountains and sky, as shimmering light bounced off the waves and curves of the sculpture.
The 2002 Olympic Winter Games symbol has been cut into the steel arch as lasting legacy. The sculpture was erected in October, 2004, but its official dedication is yet to come. “Naturally, we picked February 8, 2005 as the date for our formal dedication,” declares Myles Rademan, City Planner for Park City (February 8, 2002 was the day the Games began in Utah). “This sculpture has been a long time coming and truly honors the imprint of the 2002 Games for the world.”
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