This is the Initiative of the Seven Canyons Trust, highlight places on the Salt Lake Valley that had its creeks channeled. In one of the proposes there is Herman Franks Park is an extremely popular neighborhood park in East Liberty. A Westminster Environmental Studies group studying the hydrology from their campus to Liberty Park stumbled upon this area as an excellent opportunity to daylight over 1,000 feet of Emigration Creek. With this urban acupuncture, this park can become the beginnings of a regional connection between Westminster, and the Wasatch Mountains, to the east and Liberty Park, and the Jordan River, to the west. Emigration would provide an excellent opportunity for families to interact and explore nature and water, in our oasis on the edge of a desert.

To highlight the Emigration Creek spot, the Seven Canyons Trust amd the Center for the Living City propose an urban acupuncture for the area, an ephemeral project based on the famous streets on Águeda, Portugal, the concept plays with people’s imaginations; blue umbrellas following the same path where the creek should be. An art installation that contributes to the neighborhood a shaded space, which invites the citizens go outside and enjoy a hot  summer day.

Urban acupunctures are focal, quick, and precise interventions that help to enhance the health of all urban systems. Urban acupuncture mimics traditional acupuncture theory, pinpointing areas of stress that need to be alleviated or repaired within a community. 

With this small intervention, we have the intension to spread the Seven Canyon Trust initiatives and bring back to the Salt Lake Valley its natural beauties.