One of the most exciting sites on 9th and 9th is Out of the Blue, a sculpture by Stephen Kesler and painted by Mike Murdock located at the roundabout on 900 S 1100 E.
I started this post wanting to talk about how whimsical and fun it is to have a sculpture of a whale breeching out of a roundabout here in Salt Lake City. Little did I know, this whale was met with quite the controversy. The response reminded me of how Five Wives Vodka’s label met its own share of challengers despite presenting a lighthearted message. Out of the Blue and Five Wives encompass the same outlook: community, inclusion, and fun!
Salt Lake Arts and Salt Lake Magazine have great articles covering the controversy surrounding Out of the Blue, both definitely worth a read. The challengers raise points ranging from safety concerns to graffiti cleanup to people who wanted a Gnome Hill instead. My personal favorite objection was that the whale resembles a winged-phallus and the bushes represent, well… a bush. I have a theory that they must’ve read Moby Dick a few too many times.
As we were photographing the whale, Chad and I heard, “Who are you with?!” We looked over to Caffe Expresso and saw a friendly face. We walked over and met Sunny who is a fan of Five Wives Vodka and just so happens to be a native Virginian too!
In our brief conversation, Sunny shared that Mike Murdock works at Caffe Expresso. His goal is to change the mural design every few years. Regarding the controversy, Sunny says, “Some people were pro-gnome, others were pro-whale.” The Whale vs. Gnome rivalry seems to have been resolved since two garden gnomes held the ribbon at the cutting ceremony last April.
Writing that last paragraph makes me wonder if I’ve had too much Five Wives Vodka.
While we didn’t get to meet Mike Murdock, Sunny did share his card and you can find more of his work here and his Instagram is: @mikemurdock48
The sculpture, from what we could see, is free of any graffiti and is welcome splash of color on a cold and cloudy day. So today we’ll make a toast to Out of the Blue!
Cheers!
