Wender·Vista
Salt Lake City
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
in a wide valley between the Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake

Salt Lake City

— — the city the mountains hold on three sides.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A grid city laid out by Brigham Young in 1847, set in a high desert valley at about 4,200 feet. The Wasatch Range rises straight up east of downtown to peaks above 11,000 feet, close enough that the temple's spires read against snow most of the year. West of town the Great Salt Lake holds the last light flat and pink. From the studio: a place the mountains shape every hour of the day. — from the studio

from the studio
Salt Lake City
— bring it home

Salt Lake City, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Salt Lake City

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Salt Lake City sits at roughly 1,288 metres of elevation in a broad valley between the Wasatch Range to the east and the Oquirrh Mountains to the west, with the Great Salt Lake about twenty kilometres northwest of downtown. The city was founded on July 24, 1847, when Brigham Young led the first Latter-day Saint settlers into the valley. It is the capital of Utah and the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, anchoring a metropolitan area of about 1.2 million.

— informed by Wikipedia, U.S. Census Bureau
— the stone

Temple Square covers a ten-acre block at the centre of the city's original grid, anchored by the Salt Lake Temple, begun in 1853 and dedicated in 1893 after forty years of construction in quartz monzonite quarried from Little Cottonwood Canyon. Its six granite spires rise to about sixty-five metres. The neighbouring Tabernacle, completed in 1867, holds the famous lattice-trussed wooden dome and the Tabernacle Organ, with more than 11,000 pipes, used in weekly broadcasts since 1929.

— the air

The valley's bowl shape traps cold air against the Wasatch in winter, producing temperature inversions that can hold haze over the city for days. Summers are hot and dry, with July highs averaging near 33°C. Annual snowfall in the city itself runs near 140 centimetres, but the Wasatch resorts above Little Cottonwood Canyon, twenty kilometres east, average more than ten metres of snow, marketed as the Greatest Snow on Earth. The Great Salt Lake's brine occasionally turns pink with halophilic algae blooms.

— where
United States · Salt Lake County, Utah
— elevation
1,288 m · 4,226 ft
— position
40.7608° N · 111.8910° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
at the lake
Temple Square
religious complex
25 km NW
Great Salt Lake
salt lake
5 km E
Wasatch Range
mountain range
60 km NW
Antelope Island
lake island and state park
N
Salt Lake City
Temple Square
Great Salt Lake
Wasatch Range
Antelope Island
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Salt Lake City — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Downtown sits at roughly 1,288 metres, about 4,226 feet, of elevation. The surrounding Wasatch peaks rise to more than 3,500 metres within ten kilometres of the city, giving the eastern skyline its dramatic vertical reach.

On July 24, 1847, when Brigham Young led the first Latter-day Saint settlers into the Salt Lake Valley. The date is observed in Utah each year as Pioneer Day. The grid Young laid out still defines the modern street plan.

Forty years. Construction of the Salt Lake Temple began in 1853 and the building was dedicated in 1893. The exterior was built of quartz monzonite quarried from Little Cottonwood Canyon and hauled to the site by ox team and later by rail.

It is a terminal lake with no outflow, fed by rivers that bring in dissolved minerals. Evaporation concentrates the salt over time. Salinity varies by arm and year but typically runs several times that of the ocean.

A trademark marketing the dry, light powder of the Wasatch resorts above Little Cottonwood and Big Cottonwood canyons. Lake-effect moisture from the Great Salt Lake combines with cold mountain air to average more than ten metres of snowfall a season.

The valley's bowl shape traps cold dense air against the Wasatch under high pressure. Warm air aloft caps the inversion, holding pollutants and moisture near the surface for days at a time until a frontal system breaks the pattern.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for customers giving to former residents, BYU and University of Utah alumni, returning Latter-day Saint missionaries, and people who grew up under the Wasatch. The temple spires and mountain silhouette are the city's emotional shorthand.

The piece reads against Mountain-modern, Mission Revival, and warm-neutral palettes. The cool granites and snow tones sit comfortably with natural oak, leather, and quiet earth-coloured walls in a study or entry.

Above a sofa, a single Large or a four-tile Mural anchors the wall. Over a console table, the Medium reads at eye level. For a stairwell or open foyer, the nine-tile Mural carries the full valley and Wasatch line.

Yes. Ask for the Dura Satin or Matte finish for a steam-prone bathroom or a kitchen backsplash. Both resist scratching and stand up to repeated wiping. The Glossy finish is best kept to drier walls.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water lift everyday dust. For splatter on a Dura Satin or Matte tile, a drop of mild dish soap is enough. Skip abrasive sponges and ammonia-based sprays.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is created by Reid Wender, the studio's curator. We do not license imagery from third parties. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, beneath a thin glossy finish.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.