Town Enclosure Pavilion
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Town Enclosure is both a sculptural object in the Center for the Arts Park and a backdrop for the various activities the Center supports.
Fence and corral precedents from the mountain west inspire the shape and material quality. The form creates boundaries, temporary lines that divide function and/or ownership in an otherwise consistent landscape. The Town Enclosure is a circular composition of timber panels, the pavilion and the space it creates are both transparent and opaque according to one’s position and perspective, it appears, disappears, reappears depending on how it is approached and where one enters.
More than a single monolithic form, the individual planes are able to each engage the sky, both in the profile seen at the top of each panel, and in the shadow play created on the Center lawn. The material footprint of the structure is limited within a circular gravel field that mostly conceals the foundation.
Town Enclosure is located at the intersection of Hansen Avenue and the centerline of the Center for the Arts Theater. The close proximity to the streetscape engages pedestrian and automobile traffic, drawing visitors seeking to experience the sculpture and the park. Its location presents a mostly opaque structure to Cache Street and Hansen Avenue, but it maintains near transparency to the Center for the Arts and Snow King Mountain. A call and response effect is produced between Snow King, Town Enclosure and the Center lobby, while a portal-like entry to the Center lawn is created along Cache Street.
The Town Enclosure offers artists and community groups opportunities to present and participate in free and informal arts experiences in an intimate setting that is both a sculpture and also a free to use venue. Last summer the Town Enclosure hosted multiple free musical performances by local musicians, Riot Act Open Rehearsal of "Normal Heart," Junior Repertory Company Dancers peformed a site-specific work, Life Drawing class with models, and many informal gatherings.
The pavilion project was conceived of and administered by JH Public Art with funding from the Center for the Arts and many private donors.
PROJECT LOCATION
PROJECT TEAM
Center for the Arts