SALT LAKE CITY — The NBA season is officially underway, and a Salt Lake City artist is putting the Utah Jazz in the national spotlight in a unique way. His artwork just debuted at New York City’s Rockefeller Center as part of a special NBA Tip-Off event.
Salt Lake City artist Trent Call’s design of the Utah Jazz “Rock” features three Utah Jazz players: Lauri Markkanen, “The Finisher,” Walker Kessler, and Ace Bailey.
“Ace, I did like an ace card dunking a ball,” Call said.
His inspiration, he said, came from a friend.
“I kind of talked to a friend that’s a huge Jazz fan and he gave me a down low on what’s happening and all the new players. So based on that, I drew three illustrations,” Call said.
The design also features the Jazz Bear and Jazz logos from throughout the teams history.
“I’m definitely an outside spectator, but it’s fun to contribute in a way. It’s kind of refreshing that I’m not like a mega fan, because then I might put too much, I might lean too much into one aspect or another so it’s nice it’s like fresh eyes,” Call said.
Call had just three days to come up with his design.
“So it was just like a race to see what you can do within that short amount of time, get a little feedback and then it’s done,” Call said.
He didn’t know exactly how he was chosen, Call said, but he thinks it may have something to do with his Zion’s Bank mural, which depicts 40 seasons of Jazz history and legendary players.
“It was cool that they asked me, because there’s a lot of other artists too in town that do artwork for them, which is cool that the teams even do that, just contribute to the art community,” Call said.
(Nicola Pugliese)
“Each city’s so different that’s another cool thing. When you see all the balls together, they’re all drastically different with the colors and using the logos and artists interpretations.”
The Rock will be returned to Salt Lake City, but the timeline has yet to be determined.
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