Watershed Stories is a public art project that will reawaken the Seven Canyons Refuge with a sound installation that reintroduces the sounds of the Salt Lake Valley’s streams to the now empty fountain.
About the artist
Stefan Lesueur is a multi-disciplinary artist with a focus on public participative works. His installations activate public space to encourage communication through common elements such as light and water.
A native of Salt Lake City, Stefan has fond memories growing up with the Seven Canyons fountain and learning about the city through it. Stefan currently lives and works in Weimar, Germany.
For years the fountain at the Seven Canyons Refuge has ceased to run with flowing water due to sanitation concerns and is already under the process of renovation for future use, with strong community support favoring the fountain staying in the park. In many ways the fountain’s story mirrors the larger issues concerning a lack of water for the Great Salt Lake.
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Beginning in 2021, Stefan Lesueur began experimenting with the concept of bringing back the sensation of water through sound. Through the Wake the Great Salt Lake project grant, this concept will now come to fruition as a participative work that emphasizes the desire to bring the water back to the Great Salt Lake and the community engagement that can help towards that aim.
How did it start?
How did it start?
Timeline
February 2025
Open Call for workshops
October 2025
Sound Installation at the Seven Canyons Refuge
April 2025
Workshops
From November 2025
The archive will be available online
Part of something bigger
Watershed Stories is part of Wake the Great Salt Lake, a temporary public art initiative that will address the decline of the Great Salt Lake through visual art, theater, dance, sound experiences, arts education, and more! Look for works all across Salt Lake City through the end of 2025. More details through the link below.
Wake the Great Salt Lake is supported by the Salt Lake City Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
