• DW Harris

Call it poetic: A self-described 58-year-old juvenile delinquent is responsible for art plastered on the side of the new downtown district attorney’s office.

Last year, Gordon Huether was commissioned to design an art piece for the new DA’s office, which is still under construction. The work was unveiled Wednesday morning. Fitting, Huether said, that he was selected by a committee to produce the piece of art because, in his formative years, he spent three months in a juvenile detention center.

“Art not only changed my life, it saved my life,” he said. “To be in a position now to be doing these major projects all over the country is a real privilege.”

The piece, titled "Words We Live By,"  is made of dichroic glass, which changes color with the lighting. It appears to have several design layers, including one giraffe-spotted panel.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said the art reflects what the district attorney’s office represents as well as what it does for the community.

“We fight violence, we fight oppression, we seek out justice,” he noted.

• DW Harris
• Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams (L) and SL County DA Sim Gill (R) marvel at the art on the side of the new DA building on Wednesday.

The core of the piece is filled with words that the DA’s office aspires to convey, words like “equality,” “competence” and “trust of communities.”

Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams thanked the DA’s office, the Salt Lake County Arts Council and the Salt Lake County Council before the billowing sheet was lifted to uncover the glass.

“I love driving past this building and seeing the project as it moves along,” he said. “I truly think this will be an iconic addition to our downtown landscape, and we’ll see the art today and how it will further add to the beauty of our capital city.”

The DA building is expected to be complete next spring, “on time and under budget,” McAdams claimed. This building along with a second DA building in the county were projected to cost $64 million.