Perched atop a metal platform in the lobby of the new Weber-Morgan Children’s Justice Center in Ogden, Miriam Gutierrez painted pink flowers on the wall. Her knees hung inches from a lush landscape mural complete with a river flowing down from purple mountains, an orange butterfly fluttering above the grass and a yellow-gold sun beaming down.
The piece is part of a collaboration between Ogden Contemporary Arts and Weber County. The arts nonprofit has filled the center’s new building, which will open with a ribbon cutting May 22, with comforting artwork.
Law enforcement, health care providers and Child Protective Services refer kids they suspect have suffered abuse to the center. Roughly 800 come through the Ogden facility every year. They tell their stories to trained interviewers, and authorities use that information to prosecute cases and help the victims. There are 26 centers and satellite offices across Utah.
Art won’t fix what the children have been through, said Ogden Contemporary Arts Executive Director Venessa Castagnoli.
“But maybe it's going to help ease that experience,” she said.
Working with center staff and past victims of abuse, Castagnoli chose calming pieces. They avoided works that had red paint splatters or evoked sadness. There are kittens and flowers in a waiting room and simple fabric designs at the top of the stairs.
Understanding what a child has endured is the first part of the center’s mission, said Rod Layton, the retiring executive director.
“When they walk in that front door, we've got to get them to a place where they're very comfortable, that they will walk into a room and sit down with a complete stranger and tell their story.”
Step two is the medical evaluation. Nurses from Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City evaluate patients in an on-site exam room. A still life of a colorful floral bouquet hangs on the wall across from the privacy curtain, a green vase in front of a green background.
The art selection committee chose abstract pieces for the interview rooms. There’s a pastel color grid in one, and a double rainbow of vertical stripes in another.
The old building had a jungle-themed room, said forensic interviewer Brianna Martinez, and that planted images in kids’ minds.
“Sometimes kids would be talking and then their story would involve a bird, or they were up in the clouds because they see clouds,” she said. “So we wanted to focus on having art that was more abstract.”
Lauren Thomas, a deputy civil attorney with Weber County, was on the art committee. She was sexually abused at age five and went to the Davis County Children’s Justice Center. She only remembers a few details from that experience, like that it was dark.
“And there was a Christmas tree up, actually, when I was there. And I remember that too,” she said. “But I also remember being interviewed. I remember being scared.”
In the courtyard, two stainless steel dandelions stretch almost 13 feet into the sky. The proposal for the sculptures brought her to tears. She hopes the design will inspire strength in survivors as they look back on their experiences, knowing somebody cultivated the flowers as a symbol of perseverance.
“I think a lot of people like me, we start to have trauma again in our early adult years that kind of resurfaces,” she said.
As part of its agreement with Weber County, Ogden Contemporary Arts will offer six free art workshops for center staff, victims and families. Children will also have the chance to make art on their own. Castagnoli said the center will cycle through drawings on a wall of picture frames.
“When they come here and they're waiting, they can color a picture and put it in there and leave their mark.”
And then, she said, when the next kids come in, they’ll see the drawings on the wall and know they’re not alone.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
