USU Student Helps Get Spiral Jetty Recognized as National Historic Place

The Spiral Jetty is one of the most written about, least known historic works of art in the United States. Built by Robert Smithson in 1970, Spiral Jetty is generally regarded as the most famous example of land art. The Utah landmark was only recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places largely due to the efforts of Amy Reid.

Reid, then a graduate student in the Utah State University Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, had heard of the Spiral Jetty but had not seen it until 2022.

“I was one of the many people looking for safe outdoor activities during the pandemic,” she said. “People were flocking to see the jetty.”

The work is a 1,500-foot-long, 15-foot-wide counterclockwise spiral, constructed using basalt rocks, salt crystals and soil. Spiral Jetty was built on the north end of the Great Salt Lake on a former oil exploration site known as Rozel Point.

Smithson chose the location because it was remote and the distinct pink color of the water contrasted with the dark rocks. It’s a little difficult to find and today there is little cell phone service in the area. Google Maps may say it is in Corinne, but that’s just the nearest city.

Visitors to the jetty pass signs to the Golden Spike National Historic Site and continue for about 16 miles on a rough, gravel. By all accounts, Smithson, who died only three years after its completion, did not want Spiral Jetty to be easily accessible.

Another intent was that it would demonstrate entropy on a grand scale. He knew the lake would rise and fall and that salt would coat the dark basalt rocks like white icing. The Spiral Jetty has at times been completely submerged beneath the Great Salt Lake while at other times it has been marooned a mile from the closest water.

“I got the idea for recognizing the Spiral Jetty as a historic place during my bio-regional class with LAEP professor Todd Johnson,” Reid said. “While working with the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council, I started thinking about how people connect with the lake. They go there for bird watching, boating and just experiencing its vastness.”

Sometime during the gloom of the pandemic and the dire predictions of the Great Salt Lake drastically shrinking, Reid said she decided to embark on a project to give the Spiral Jetty the recognition it deserved.

“I wanted to do something positive,” she said. “Robert Smithson selecting the Great Salt Lake for his artwork made it something to celebrate. It has national and international importance. The designation can be leveraged to support stewardship efforts through grants but does not put any restrictions on the artwork. You can touch it, walk on it or fly over it with drones."

Kirk Huffaker, principal of Kirk Huffaker Preservation Strategies helped Reid through the process, which was different from most other historic landmark preservation.

“When Amy approached me about the idea to get the Spiral Jetty on the National Register of Historic Places, I knew she had hit upon something,” Huffaker said. “It fit exactly with her educational and professional direction while having deep meaning to her personally as well as to all Utahns.”

The process was very complex given multiple owners and stakeholders and working with land art rather than a typical building, he added. It involved collaboration with the Utah State Historic Preservation Office, the Dia Art Foundation, and the Holt/Smithson Foundation. Key aspects of the nomination include the artwork’s artistic significance, historical integrity, and its role as a site of cultural and ecological importance. Huffaker was part of Reid’s thesis committee that included USU LAEP faculty members Daniela Hirschfeld and committee chair Ole Sleipness.

Spiral Jetty is more than an artwork; it is a living, evolving piece that continues to inspire conversations about art, environment and human responsibility, Reid said. Its inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places recognizes its enduring cultural and historical value while reinforcing its relevance in addressing contemporary environmental challenges.

Smithson designed Spiral Jetty so that nature's processes could be seen in relation to it, Reid said. Every visit is different. The skies change. You notice the crunching of the sand under your feet and the clouds moving across wide-open sky. When you go out to the water, you notice the reflections of the clouds on the water change. The salt crystals build up on the rocks and then are washed away. You realize that nature is never finished.