Why a new, soon-to-be colorful swarm of bees are coming to Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — A new fiberglass sculpture recently added to Main Street quietly foreshadows a colorful new project coming to downtown Salt Lake City.

No, it's not a memorial to the Salt Lake Bees, which left the city for South Jordan in 2025. Rather, this bee is the first of seven aimed at celebrating the city's neighborhoods for the Salt Lake Temple open house, which is projected to welcome in millions of visitors next year.

It's part of an art project called "Bees Around The Block."

Each one will eventually represent a City Council district, with designs tied to what makes its neighborhoods special, said Lucas Horns, program director of The Blocks Arts District, an arts wing of the Salt Lake City Downtown Alliance.

"I think we see that period as a really big opportunity to reconnect almost every Utahn, really, with their capital city and their downtown," he said.

Landon Krasik, a city artist and community organizer, approached the Downtown Alliance and Salt Lake City Arts Council about the idea some time ago.

Salt Lake City's neighborhoods are "extremely unique and extremely cool," with some larger than some of its suburbs, he said. Still, they can feel hidden or unappreciated, never really receiving the same limelight as downtown.

With millions expected to visit downtown for next year's open house, Krasik began thinking about ways to promote the city differently, especially with many people who could be visiting Salt Lake City for the first time and searching for something to do.

Krasik settled on a series of bee statues — bees being a key symbol of the Beehive State, of course. While that concept has been used in other cities, including some in Utah, he wanted to turn the designs into a reflection of every neighborhood in a way most of those don't capture.

"I'm hoping ... to help the world see that Salt Lake City is kind of a more diverse place than people might think — while you're downtown, you can stroll through the different neighborhoods by just looking at the different bees," he told KSL. "You can understand the broader picture of the culture and people through art, and be going on this bee tour."

He pitched the idea to the city, which fell in love with the concept.

The city organizations authorized approximately $30,000 for the project, which covered half of the cost for the seven bee sculptures. Statues.com and Industrial Concrete, a pair of local companies tapped to build the statues and their bases, offered to cover the other half through in-kind donations.

Two bees have been constructed thus far, with another temporarily placed outside of the Anderson-Foothill library before it's relocated. The remaining five are still under construction and will begin appearing on Main Street throughout the winter.

Designing the bees

Project planners recently requested funding through the city's Arts, Culture, and Entertainment Grant program to potentially pay for some or all of an additional $14,000 needed to paint the bees — half for the artists and half for supplies.

While that's being considered, work to design the bees is picking up.

Over 400 residents have submitted ideas after project representatives met with more than a dozen community councils scattered across the city over the past few months, collecting feedback from residents about what they'd like represented on their district's bee.

Krasik launched an online survey that will continue to collect ideas for a few more weeks.

He and others will seek artists who will receive the survey results for their district and use them for their design. They'd prefer that each artist is from the district of the bee they're designing, if possible.

An event to paint the bees is being planned for early April, potentially coinciding with the beginning of the temple open house. Daily tours are scheduled from April 5 through Oct. 1, 2027.

"Over the course of one weekend, we're hoping that they can paint the bees and people can walk around and watch them," he said, adding that there would be additional festivities for the event.

Other art plans

The Blocks Arts District has a few other tricks up its sleeve as the city prepares for an influx of downtown visitors next year.

Wayfinding and other art installations are being planned out at the moment, as is a busking program that will direct musicians and other live performers to downtown blocks to offer extra entertainment, Horns said.

"We're just looking to make a nice active Main Street that kind of guides visitors from Temple Square to the downtown core," he said.

The local business community has also led an effort to add new "joyful" beehive-themed lamp posts to the street to add to the artsy charm.

As for the bees, they will remain on Main Street for at least a year. It's possible that they could be scattered across the city after that, and it's also possible that they will become a permanent piece of the street.

"I love the idea of them just staying on Main Street and being able to be something people can look on as a piece of their own neighborhood there," Krasik said.