Poke around Green River, Utah, and you’ll spot a number of art installations–most the work of a local activist group known as Epicenter. None are widely advertised and not easy to get to, for example, this towering sculpture perched atop a steep hillside on the far side of the railroad tracks.
But my favorite exhibit is the local graveyard, named Elgin Cemetery after a long gone pioneer settlement. There is no grass, and evidently no rules dictating what sort of monument is allowed. The result an eccentric gallery of artifacts that celebrate the lives, occupations and passions of departed souls–everything from ore carts, drilling rigs, whirligigs, boots and saddles–even a one-hole astroturfed putting green. None are signed; all are deeply touching, in particular because it’s far removed from the highway, scenically situated in the middle of a high desert, bordered by the Book Cliffs to the north and the “Silent City” of the San Rafael Swell to the south.
