Dumke Arts Plaza

In March 2020, Ogden City hired the submitting firm to lead the vision and design of the Nine Rails Creative District’s first public realm construction. In 2022 the Dumke Arts Plaza was completed, creating a new cornerstone for the city’s vibrant arts community.

Once an abandoned ½ acre lot, the plaza’s design is rooted in the community’s vision. Despite the challenges of collaborating with clients and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the design team found new, creative ways to gain community input, and develop a design for the Dumke Arts Plaza that meets the needs of multiple stakeholders. The engagement effort was envisioned as a “Welcoming Campaign” and conducted as a collaborative and accessible approach to community outreach. The campaign provided input opportunities through multiple channels, built collective awareness of the project, and aimed to instill a sense of community ownership of the future arts plaza. The campaign recognized that in order for the project to be a true success, the design must represent the Nine Rails Creative District and the broader Ogden community in the most equitable way possible. Before creating any design concepts, the team developed Guiding Principles to serve as the foundation for the future design and ensured that the original goals set by the Ogden community were met within the project.

The design process for the plaza began with an elemental look at the larger geography and geology of the Salt Lake Basin. Working with in-house data and design tools, the team built a custom quantitative viewshed analysis to study the potential of capturing mountain views within the plaza’s footprint. This analysis informed the height of the plaza’s elevated room, the Plinth.

To maximize the flexibility of art on the site, the design team created an art infrastructure system that could host performances and static art in a variety of capacities. A myriad of spatial conditions were layered into a relatively small space, allowing individuals and groups to select their own experiences.

The Beacon — emerging from the northeastern corner of the plaza — is designed to be seen from afar, beckoning people to the arts district to experience the plaza up close. Folding up from the plaza to frame the northeast entry, the sculpture takes cues from the forms and materiality of the plaza itself. Suspended from this frame, a cantilever magically floats 40 feet over the street and is visible from all over Ogden. At night, the Beacon glows from within, illuminating a perforation pattern inspired by the Wasatch Mountain Range.

The plaza’s inaugural exhibition was a selection of work by internationally renowned American sculptor Chakaia Booker, which will be on view to the public from Dec. 3, 2021 through September 2022. The exhibition was curated by the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery at Weber State University. “The automotive tires that Booker uses inherently symbolize upward mobility, expansion, and possibility,” said Lydia Gravis, gallery director and curator.  “This new Dumke Arts Plaza represents the same mobility for Ogden as it enhances the Nine Rails Arts District and eliminates the barriers inherently associated with traditional ‘white cube’ art galleries and museums that sometimes deter more diverse audiences from experiencing meaningful, thought-provoking art.”

This new public arts venue is part of a public-private partnership between Ogden City, the Dumke Foundation, Ogden Contemporary Arts, and Weber State. Together, the project funds were dedicated to this arts endeavor and will serve as the centerpiece of the developing creative district in downtown Ogden and further transform a once-abandoned section of 25th Street.