St. George's New City Hall Showcases Community Spirit in Mosaic Mural

St. George's new City Hall, set to open on January 17, features a remarkable 12-foot-by-24-foot mosaic mural composed of approximately 1,000 tiles painted by local residents.

 

Artist Lewis Lavoie and his company, Mural Mosaic, assembled these individual artworks into a cohesive image depicting hikers and bikers traversing Snow Canyon.

 

Marc Mortensen, the city's operations director, emphasized the mural's significance: "I think the most important thing here is that somebody drew something that they love about this area. There are about 1,000 different stories in that mural."

 

Mortensen and his family participated in the project, contributing their own tiles. Residents were encouraged to paint scenes specific to their hometown, adding personal touches to the collective artwork.

 

Locating individual tiles among the thousand can be a delightful challenge. "It took me a minute—with a thousand tiles up there, you know, to find one in a thousand," Mortensen noted. "That's kind of part of the fun about the mural overall—searching for the tile you did, or someone you care about. It's fun to spend a good 20 minutes just trying to figure out where those tiles are."

 

The mural is not the only community-centric feature in the new building. Small figurines representing various community members, from pioneers to outdoor enthusiasts, are placed above department signs throughout the facility.

 

The new City Hall boasts an open-air atrium and expansive windows overlooking Town Square, including significantly larger City Council chambers.

 

Mayor Michele Randall highlighted the improvements: "If you've been to our old city hall, of course it was built in the 1980s. It was dark, not a lot of windows, and in here you can just see how bright it is. I love this atrium that goes from the parking garage over to town square that people can just walk through all day."

 

As Randall's term concludes, Jimmie Hughes is set to assume the mayoral role next week.

 

Reflecting on the mural's lasting impact, Mortensen added, "For years and years, people will come back to this mural and say, 'Hey, mom, where's your painting?' or 'Where's grandpa's?'"