West Bountiful's city chambers feature a few staple elements. Copies of nationally significant documents, such as the Constitution, line the north side wall while a circular plaque sits over a projector screen – highlighting a tree and the city name as well as the words “strength,” “family” and ‘unity.”

For the last few months, the room has also featured photography of nature from Jim Child as well as a friend of his named Brandt Gurr. Recently, the arts council swapped out those images to showcase work from a painter in their group, Debi Caldwell. 

 “I hope that somebody that looks at my paintings feels like ‘oh, you know, that painting has a story. I’m sure it has a story,” said Caldwell. “You know, whether they know what it is or not that, with me using a lot of people, it’s obvious there’s a story there and [it] makes a person wonder ‘what is their story?’”

A graphic designer by trade, Caldwell’s featured pieces represent 20 years of work. Most of the material highlights individuals, though there are images of fruit, a landscape and flowers in the mix. 

Caldwell approaches each painting by trying to capture what inspires her. Two examples that showcase this are paintings she made from images that a friend took in Ukraine roughly six years ago. 

‘He walked the streets of Ukraine and just the shocking poverty, you know, children playing on the streets with nothing more than just a torn up paper bag turning whatever they could into games.”

The first of these paintings is on the east side of the south wall, which shows two girls playing on the streets. An image of two women selling flowers is also based on photographs from her friend’s collection. In addition to pieces highlighting Ukraine, Caldwell has a piece showing individuals bathing in India’s Ganges River.

Some of Caldwell’s featured work also involves her family members. One example is located on the south wall of a man in a Stetson with his wife – an image of her parents. Her son and husband have also been included in the collection.

According to Caldwell, the arts council swaps out the material every two to six months. This ensures that new work is being highlighted in the room. A resident of West Bountiful, Caldwell says that the council values highlighting local talent. 

Outside of decorating the city chambers, the group hosts musical performances from the room on the second Friday of most months. These regularly feature individuals such as Susie Carter, Andy Leger and local students.

“I enjoy seeing all the different talents,” said Caldwell about being in the arts council. “Some people are very creative and talented in vocal arts, instrumental. We all have our way of creating, you know, whether it’s on canvas or with our voice or with instruments, it’s just I enjoy seeing that because it all comes from the same place.”

According to the council, the next concert will be their young artists performance, which features talent from across the community. The event will take place on April 11.