Gilgal Sculpture Park

This tucked-away little park in downtown Salt Lake City has everything I need: privacy and insider vibes (the entrance is inconspicuous and you’re likely to be the only one there), beautifully tended garden elements…and a collection of giant bizarro sculpture art comprising the life’s work of a devoted Mormon bishop and masonry contractor who mostly used a welding torch.

There are disembodied hands and feet, a sphinx with Joseph Smith’s face, and a portrait of the artist in brick pants made of actual bricks. There are hundreds of scripture verses (and the Declaration of Independence), and as many spelling errors. On a good day, there are free copies of a ten-page pamphlet, delving into quite a lot of detail as it hagiographizes artist Thomas Battersby Child.

When the weather’s right, Gilgal Sculpture Garden is the best place in Salt Lake for a first date; the most memorable destination for out-of-town-visitors; and a strangely comforting place to sit and contemplate the wonderful weirdness of human creativity.