Courtney Hart McWhorter, owner of CourtneyCo art studio, unveiled the second of her three murals painted for the Provo Municipal Airport on Aug. 27.
Provo City commissioned McWhorter to paint three murals for three different walls inside the airport.
Each mural depicts a different season and showcases different animals in nature that are native to the Provo area.
“The mayor came to us and said, ‘I have a vision. I want to have great art. I want to use local artists and I want to celebrate what we have right around here,’” Isaac Paxman, deputy mayor of Provo, said.
McWhorter said she worked on the second painting for the past 11 months. She said she was so excited to work on the project, though she acknowledged painting the mural was a laborious process.
“Like, I'm not just sitting or sitting on an easel, I'm walking up and down like ladders or scaffolding and you paint a little bit and then you have to like walk down, walk back and look at it. So all day I'm walking up and down a ladder,” McWhorter said.
The painting shown at the event depicted a pink, purple and orange sunset over Utah Lake, which lake sits near the Provo airport. The colors used give off a warm glow and are meant to symbolize Provo in the summer.
“I personally love the colors ... the sunset colors are what really are beautiful, and what showcase summer in Utah the best,” Danielle Nixon, Provo City's principal engineer, said.
McWhorter said she is grateful for the opportunity to paint the airport's murals, but added she might take a little break after the final mural is finished.
“I will always be looking for and be open to huge projects. I do think that maybe for like right after I finish, that's when I might take a break from huge commissions and just work on some personal pieces or gallery size,” McWhorter said.
The second mural will be hung in the Provo airport after the third and final mural is finished.