Spiral Jetty

The spiral jetty is a piece of landscape art designed and constructed in April 1970 by the American artist Robert Smithson. A 32 minute film of the same name also accompanied the construction. The jetty is located on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, near Rozel Point on the Promontory Peninsula. It forms a 1,500 foot long, and 15 foot wide jetty, built only out of salt, ud, and basaltic rocks found nearby, extending out onto the lake bed and coiling counter-clockwise. During times of high water the jetty stands slightly above the waterline, with the North arm’s hyper saline water often glowing a deep red, while periods of low water has the structure standing above dry Lake bed. Smithson was killed in an aircraft crash, and in 1999 the work was donated by his widow Nancy Holt (herself an acclaimed landscape artist, perhaps most famous for “Sun Tunnels”) to the Dia Art Foundation, who manages it today. Despite the remoteness of the site, it is a popular destination for art enthusiasts and other visitors.

Click here for the full oral history with Bonnie Baxter

Bonnie Baxter, PhD is a professor of biology at Westminster College in Salt Lake City and the director of the Great Salt Lake Institute. Fascinated by science from a young age, she pursued work in genetics and DNA. Her interest has always been in liberal arts education, which is how she found Westminster College, and, in turn, began her relationship with the Great Salt Lake. She studies halophiles (salt-loving bacteria) and works with people of widely divergent backgrounds who are also interested in the Lake. Through the Great Salt Lake Institute, she has encouraged interdisciplinary relationships between people all over the world. Dr. Baxter discusses her work with the Lake at some length and shares her favorite areas. She also emphasizes the importance of interaction with the ecosystem and believes strongly that children need to be involved with that interaction.

Photo of the Spiral Jetty at Sunset, Fall 2008. From the University of Utah College of Architecture and Planning History Collection, Mariott Digital Library.

Click here for the full oral history with Hikmet Loe

Hikmet Loe is an artist, writer, and teacher who draws her inspiration from the land. Born and raised on the east coast, Hikmet moved to Utah in the early 1980s. In the 70s, Hikmet received her undergraduate degree in Art History from Penn State, and later received her master’s in Art History from Hunter College in New York City. Hikmet master’s thesis, An Intermittent Illusion: Local Reaction to Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, sparked her lifetime involvement with Robert Smithson’s work, and with landscape art in Utah. Currently, Hikmet works as a professor at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, as well as with CLUI (Center for Land Use Interpretation), and with the Dia Art Foundation. In this interview, Hikmet speaks at length about her involvement with the Spiral Jetty, Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels, and about her interpretation of Utah land and beauty.

Students at the Spiral Jetty, April 20th 2010. From the University of Utah Art and Art History Department PR Photographs, Mariott Digital Library.

Click here for the full oral history with Matt Coolidge

In this interview, Matt Coolidge describes his early travels in and experiences of the west. He talks about becoming involved with art. Matt discusses founding the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Wendover. He lists the people involved in the beginning, as well as the process of starting the organization. He describes the Center and its environment. He also talks about some of the artists who have been residents, the work they’ve done, and describes the residency itself. Through CLUI, Matt is also involved with centers and programs across the country. He details the center’s exploration of the Great Salt Lake area. He describes the Great Salt Lake Land Scan and the process of creating it. Matt then discusses artists who have worked at and around Great Salt Lake, specifically Robert Smithson and Nancy Holt. At the end of the interview, he gives the interviewers a tour of CLUI while talking about land use issues relevant to the west.

Photo from the Sculpture Club visit to the Spiral Jetty, 2012. From the Art and Art History Department PR Photographs, Mariott Digital Library.

Click here for the full oral history with Bonnie Baxter

In this clip, Dr. Bonnie Baxter talks more about her experience with the Spiral Jetty.

Students at the Spiral Jetty, 2006. From the Art and Art History Department PR Photographs, Marriott Digital Library.

Click here for the full oral history with Hikmet Loe

In this clip, Hikmet Loe discusses further her involvement with the Spiral Jetty over the years.

Spiral Jetty with relatively high water. August 4th, 2020. Photo by Greg Smoak.