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HOMESTEAD // AUSTEN DIAMOND
Roger Whiting at work on an inhome mural.
TRANSPORTIVE ART R
oger Whiting doesn’t just paint murals, he transforms spaces. A work of fine art hung in the home is a window to someplace else, but a mural transports you there. When Whiting covers the walls inside someone’s home with a mural, he doesn’t go it alone. The Rhode Island School of Design graduate says that to achieve such a feeling, he collaborates with his clients. Whiting mulls over the client’s broad-stroked idea, emotion or feeling, and sketches something wholly their own. This is not a simple rendering of a painting found on Pinterest—Whiting creates unique art for every mural. And he works with the client to make something they’ll cherish, something they’ll see every day when they wake up. Whiting fell in love with murals during his senior year of college, when he interned with a muralist. The draw was instantaneous, mostly due to the process’ interactivity. “I don’t like being set inside a studio and going completely
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internal,” Whiting says. “I like getting immediate feedback on artistic decisions and I like pleasing clients.” Currently, Whiting has completed approximately 60 painted murals and a dozen mosaic murals. These range in size from two feet square to 12 feet by 250 feet. When Whiting isn’t painting murals in the home, he works for commercial clients and he helps to install public works of art with myriad community partners. He says the latter is his real passion. “I am a strong believer in the idea of access to beautiful works,” Whiting says. Most of his public art can be found on Salt Lake City’s West Side, where there are few museums or professional artworks on display. “I like to be part of that bridge that gets art in front of thousands of people,” he continues. “Cities without art don’t look like cities. It brings life to spaces.” The same can be said for murals in the home—it’s transformative. RogerWhiting.com
PHOTOS BY AUSTEN DIAMOND
Roger Whiting’s murals take you places.