Payson muralist perseveres amid challenges to produce uplifting, inspiring art
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- In this undated photo, Courtney Hart paints a mural that depicts spring in Utah County, one of three murals to be placed in the Provo Airport.
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- This undated photo shows muralist Courtney Hart working on a mural to be placed in the Provo Airport.
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- This undated photo shows artist Courtney Hart at her Payson studio as she works on a mural to be placed inside the Provo Airport.
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- This undated photo shows artist Courtney Hart in her Payson studio as she paints a mural that depicts spring in Utah County.
Murals have a way of telling stories through strokes of a paintbrush, adding a sense of personality and imagination to a specific area or space.
These are among the reasons Courtney Hart is passionate about her work, and that passion is a major reason why Hart, a local fine art muralist and the owner of CourtneyCo art studio in Payson, has been able to persevere despite a number of challenges after being commissioned by Provo City officials in 2021 to paint three murals to go on display inside the Provo Airport.
“I care very deeply about the work that I do, and I also want to give my best to the people of Utah County and those who go through the airport,” Hart told the Daily Herald.
Shortly after being hired to take on the artistic task at the airport, Hart tore her rotator cuff while snowboarding. Initially, doctors thought she had suffered a minor injury, but after numerous physical therapy sessions, her condition began to worsen.
“One morning, I woke up and my arm had dislocated, you know, out of my socket,” Hart described. “And that’s when I had my boyfriend take me to urgent care and they did an MRI, and that’s when they finally saw that there was a torn muscle.”
While the injury could’ve easily persuaded her to renege on the airport project, she refused to give up, continuing to work despite aches, pains and frequent migraines.
The torn muscle limits how long she can stand or move her arms, which means it is taking her longer to get the project done than she originally planned.
Hart also has to be mindful of how much money is being spent, which has posed challenges due to rising inflation since she agreed to the project.
“The budget that I had, it’s become a lot more tight. I’m using the best, high-quality material, so I’m not trying to cut corners with the cost of materials,” Hart said.
The road got even rougher when her car broke down earlier this year, and she had to move in with her parents for a time who live near her studio so she could continue to work.
Through all of this, she has remained determined.
One of the three murals is already up at the Provo Airport, and the second was unveiled at her studio in August. She currently is working on the third installment, which is set to go on display early next year. The series of 105-foot-by-10-foot murals — depicting a range of seasons, with nature, wildlife and landscapes representing different areas in Utah County — will be placed on three different walls inside the airport.
Each mural takes between eight and nine months to complete.
Hart’s passion for art began in high school after an impromptu exit from the school’s band. She thought she wanted to pursue studio art but was denied entry to the program at Brigham Young University. So, she opted to study art history instead.
“I’m actually super grateful that I didn’t get into the (studio art) program and that’s what I ended up studying, because I feel like I have a huge breadth of knowledge in terms of the art that’s come before, and I have a lot of things to draw upon. And it also has really influenced my art practice today,” Hart explained.
As an art history student, she also studied abroad, spending time in Europe experiencing various famous paintings from world-renowned artists.
“I think that is where I also realized that art was my healing balm, and it’s what spoke to me. And that’s where I also fell in love with frescoes and murals there that I was like, ‘Why don’t we have this in the U.S.?'” Hart said.
Hart would go on to graduate with honors from BYU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art history.
Drawn to designing and painting big mural projects, her work has graced galleries and museums nationwide, including the Springville Art Museum and Anthony’s Fine Art and Antiques in Salt Lake City.
Regarding the airport project, Hart worked with city planners and engineers on concepts, design and a budget.
“I got a good sense of what I thought that they were drawn to, but I also was really wanting to pitch this idea of doing these fine art murals that could be hung there and last forever,” Hart said.
Rather than turn in pieces that would just be acceptable, she wants those who encounter her work to feel inspired and uplifted by the murals.
“It’s been a labor of love. I’ve pushed through and just done what I’ve needed to. And that’s like, not cutting corners or just finishing just to finish, because I deeply care about people’s experience with art and how that can make them feel,” she added.
The desire to lift people’s emotion through visible art is something she aims to accomplish with all of her work beyond the walls of the Provo Airport.
“I bring a lot of experiences and probably my female perspective on things that I’ve gone through in life and kind of want to show beauty in that but also connect with people that might have felt similarly,” Hart said.
