Gilgal Sculpture Garden, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County

Gilgal Sculpture Garden in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, is significant at the statewide level under Criterion C in the area of Art because it is an extraordinary and exceptionally intact sculpture garden with folk art pieces that embody the artistic vision of Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. His ideas are expressed through the use of stone gathered from across Utah and symbolize religious and philosophical perspectives uniquely rooted in the region’s Latter-day Saint cultural context. The sculptures within the garden are also significant under Criterion C in the area of Art as the Work of a Master for sculptor Maurice Brooks, who created Child’s most ambitious sculptures through exceptional stone-carving skill and the innovative use of an oxyacetylene torch, a technique that allowed him to achieve forms and textures beyond the capacity of traditional tools. Constructed between 1945 and 1963, Child orchestrated the sculpture garden as a deeply personal expression of faith, selecting and arranging stones with deliberate symbolic intent, while Brooks executed the most complex carvings with a level of craftsmanship that elevates the work beyond vernacular production. The garden’s artistic importance has been recognized nationally; the Smithsonian Institution’s Art Inventories Catalog documents Gilgal Sculpture Garden and records its inclusion in the Save Outdoor Sculpture Utah survey (1994), its formal inventory by Smithsonian staff (2000), and its receipt of both a Save Outdoor Sculpture Assessment Award (2000) and a Conservation Treatment Award (2001). The garden’s cultural value was further affirmed when it became the first Utah property recognized as a Distinctive Destination by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in July 2020. Together, Child and Brooks produced a unified work of art unparalleled in Utah and rare in the United States, blending religious narrative, autobiographical symbolism, and masterful stonework into a cohesive artistic statement. As Child explained, “The work represents my thoughts and expression of my religion and facts which are sacred to me,” a reflection that underscores the spiritual purpose at the heart of the garden’s creation. The garden’s preservation and continued stewardship ensure that this singular collaboration—and the cultural values it embodies—remain legible to contemporary audiences. The period of significance for Gilgal Sculpture Garden is 1945 to 1963, reflecting the period of Child’s activity on the site, from the initiation of the sculptural landscape to his death in 1963, after which no more sculptures were added.