More than 2.5 million people a year view Karl Momen's sculpture, "The Tree of Utah." Of course most of them are going 75 mph at the time, but still, that's a lot of exposure for an artist.
The tree stands, unobstructed and visible for miles, in the middle of the Salt Flats alongside I-80, 26 miles east of Wendover.
The downside of all that exposure, though, is that for 15 years the sculpture has been an apparently irresistible target. There are no velvet ropes in the Salt Flats. No museum guards either, and no climate-control. So, Momen's 83-foot-tall concrete tree has been at the mercy of passersby and the elements.
Passing motorists with guns have taken potshots at the tree. In addition, although pulling off the freeway is discouraged, motorists occasionally stop long enough to decorate the tree's base with graffiti. And someone stole the bronze plaque that identified the tree and its artist. Blowing salt and snow also have taken their toll.
"Thanks God the structure is still OK," said the Iranian-born Swedish sculptor, who likes to look on the bright side of most everything. Still, he estimates, the cost of repairing and cleaning up the tree will be about $42,000. That will include replacing about 200 colored tiles on the round orbs that represent the tree's foliage, washing those orbs, sandblasting the base, and protecting the concrete with sealant.
Momen is in Salt Lake City this week to promote a book he hopes will help defray the cost of repairing and maintaining his tree. The book, "Vision in the Desert," was written by Herman Du Toit, head of audience education and development at Brigham Young University's Museum of Art. Momen also hopes to raise money by selling a "Tree of Utah" poster.
As usual, Momen has big plans. "I'm even getting bold and will write a letter to the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland," he reported. He'd like to get permission to use the Olympic rings on his poster, which he hopes to sell during the Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
"I think the answer will be 'No,' " said Momen with a grin. "But who knows?"
Although the state of Utah has owned the tree since Momen donated it in 1996, Momen is responsible for the tree's maintenance. That's in addition to the "much more" than $1 million he says he spent to design, build and erect the controversial tree. Momen had to borrow money to finish the project.
Momen's quixotic vision continues to attract attention in the world press. In Sweden especially, where Momen was a well-known architect, painter and sculptor before relocating to San Francisco, his fame endures.
Momen was accompanied to Utah this week by Swedish photographer/writer Ewa Rudling, who is working on an article about Momen for the magazine "Konstvrlden Disajn."
Rudling is best known for her photograph of Andy Warhol (in which the ghostly artist is swathed in a white scarf in front of a white rug). Once married to the grandson of artist Henri Matisse, Rudling gave up a painting career when her mother-in-law advised her "If you're not Matisse, better not paint." (This is also the title of Rudling's first book, which includes her photographs of the Ayatollah Khomeini, Richard Burton, Omar Sharif and several dozen other notables.)
Rudling, who is struck by Momen's resemblance to Pablo Picasso, also plans to use a photo of Momen in an "art window" she is producing for the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. As a writer, she says, she only writes about people "who are fascinating and have good stories," and that includes Momen, she says.
The latest chapter of Momen's story is an "international sculpture garden" he envisions on 40 acres surrounding The Tree of Utah, a plan he first announced in 1996 and which he has not abandoned, despite a decided lack of encouragement from the state Division of Facilities and Construction Management.
When he says he's going to do something he does it, says Momen about himself. "That's my curse."
He says he already has commitments from eight international sculptors who will donate sculpture plans. To find money to produce the sculptures, "I am going to begin, again, with my kind of begging," said Momen, who will contact international businesses for donations.
He wishes now he hadn't turned down an offer in 1985 from a Chicago entrepreneur who offered him $500,000 to produce Tree of Utah key rings and T-shirts. "It was stupid artistic integrity," he said with a laugh.
But he stands by his decision to turn down "Circus Circus." The Reno casino had approached him in 1985 about using the tree as sort of a sculpture billboard, complete with neon lights. Momen also has turned down companies that have wanted to use the tree in TV commercials.
Sure, he could be a lot wealthier now if he had taken the money, he admits. Or if he hadn't given up his architecture career to pursue painting and sculpture. "The world has enough wealthy men," he said. "But the crazy and the idealists — they don't grow on trees."
They just build them, as Momen would be the first to admit.
E-MAIL: jarvik@desnews.com