Green River, Utah lies in the northwest reach of a geological province called “Paradox Basin.”
Fitting name, given the attributes of this small Utah town. Contradictions. Puzzles. Paradoxes.
Consider:
● The site of world-class land art sculptures by a renowned Australian sculptor whose giant
“geoglyphs” are found around the globe; from the Middle East to the Far East and
including South America and Iceland, and now just as you are passing Green River on I-
70 look to the north and you will see not one –but two– world famous land art
installations near one rural town.
● A small rural community with an international reach and reputation;
● World-class melons from a high desert valley with hot days and cool nights during the
growing season.
A town where the reconciliation of opposites is done every day with time left over for burgers
and craft brews at Ray’s Tavern, a favorite for river-runners the world over.
On January 13, 2021, I attended via Zoom the Green River town council and noticed that in
addition to the members of the town council and people on the program, an icon on the surrounds
of the Zoom screen for Maria Sykes, of whom I have heard much.
Maria and her company Epicenter were featured on an NPR News Hour program subtitled: “Can
this Rural Town Go from a Youth Exodus to an Art Epicenter?”
During the town council meeting, I became impressed with how many projects are being
managed by the town leaders and other stakeholders including recruiting an assistant for the
town’s travel bureau and a collector for the famous John Wesley Powell Museum at the east edge
of town; discussing a grant to build a swimming hole out of a bend in the Green River, and
which, paradoxically, is a famous river of the west that runs along the town’s east side, and is the
color of coffee with cream and named “the Green.”
Gotta love a place and people this interesting and paradoxical.
