When a 23-foot-tall sculpture of a whale went up at the center of a Salt Lake City roundabout in 2022, opinions on the public art piece, called “Out of the Blue,” were divided. Then, Utah had a record-setting winter. People praised the whale for bringing snow and just like that, a cult following was born.
Right now, the sculpture in the 9th and 9th neighborhood is getting a makeover. Salt Lake County-based artist Jiyoun Lee-Lodge was chosen to paint a new mural, called “Open Your Eyes.” The mural features gradients of blue, white and pink with polka dots, swirling black strokes and curves that evoke images of crashing waves.
So when a much-needed rain-soaked August came soon after the city announced the next mural design on Aug. 1, it wasn’t hard for whale lovers across the state to connect the dots.
“All hail the whale,” wrote one user on Reddit.
“We need more roundabouts so we can build more whales,” said another.
Self-proclaimed whale lover Bryant Heath also posted about the rain-bringing whale, and comments poured in with praise. Some even pondered whether praying to idols actually works.
“I imagine it was tongue-in-cheek, but who's to say that they're wrong?” Heath said. “I don't know, [the city decides] to change the mural, and they did the big announcement this past early August. And what do we get? We get kind of record-setting or near record-setting rainfall for the particular month. So maybe there is something to it. Who's to say?”
August’s rain totals were good, but not quite record-breaking. It was only the 14th wettest August in the last 129 years, but the moisture was much needed after an unusually dry winter and hot summer have left the entire state in drought.
Sure, Heath said, thanking a sculpture for rain is a little silly, but there’s no denying the whale’s impact on the city’s culture.
“I do appreciate that it exists, and of course, it's going to foster some of these interesting dialogs and interesting diversions.”
For instance, it’s inspired an officially registered religion — the Church of the Sacred Whale — scribbled sidewalk messages and even videogame get togethers at the roundabout.
Jackson Bradshaw is part of a group that ran a marathon around the whale — all 630 laps — and documented the experience.
“I believe in the magical powers of the whale,” Bradshaw said. “I'm not a whale worshiper, but I believe it's powerful.”
He’s not the only marathoner who feels that way. Evan Service has also run the “Whaleathon” and can’t deny that there’s “some kind of power" about its presence in the city.
“It draws you in every time you go by,” Service said. “You do a lap and you don't mean to. Just every time you ride by, you ride around it at least once. So it pulls you in.”
This year, the Whaleathon is official with permits from the city. Registration is open and race day is set for Oct. 24.
“We've done it for three years in a row now, all a little bit under the radar, and this one we're trying to make a bit of a splash, pun intended,” he said. “It just happened to coincide with this new mural.”
Funky public art like the whale or Kosmo, a 20-foot long steel sculpture of a Kosmoceratops in Poplar Grove, can bring energy, creativity and personality to communities, said Heath. With Salt Lake City embracing the out-of-the ordinary, he thinks it puts it on par with other big cities across the country.
“Seattle has these wooden trolls, Denver has the famed Blucifer, the blue horse statue outside the Denver airport,” Heath said. “And now I feel like, you know, we're in the mix now with the whale.”
For Bradshaw, the sculpture does what all good public art should do: bring people together.
“The whale is absurd, and people's excitement about the whale is absurd,” he said. “Everybody has their own feelings and reasons why they like it, and so it's just fun to come together as a community.”
The whale’s new paint job should be finished in the coming weeks, with the city celebrating the new mural at “Whale Fest” on Oct. 3.
