About Stephen

Stephen’s studio is without walls. His work has emerged across many disciplines. He believes that while his tools and materials may change, the creative process remains the same.

Stephen is a woodworker, sculptor, teacher, and activist. His large-scale environmental works, public installations and water features can be found throughout Salt Lake City. His sculpture and furniture are in many public and private collections.

He is the founder of Artspace Utah, a non-profit that developed live/workspace, childcare, educational facilities, and office space for other non-profit agencies. Artspace’s projects include the Pierpont Project, California Tire and Rubber, The Bridge Projects and the recently completed City Center.

He served as Director of the Frederick P. Rose Architectural Fellowship for Enterprise Community Partners after serving as the Planning Director for Salt Lake City. As the first artist/planning director appointed in a major city in the U.S. he completed projects including new master plans for mixed-use residential neighborhoods, a guide titled, Towards a Walkable Downtown: urban design strategies to improve the pedestrian environment in Downtown Salt Lake City, with Ann Forsyth; a project to develop high-performance, green building policies for the city; the development of the city’s first Transit-Oriented Zoning districts, and a “Walkable Communities” ordinance. During the 2002 Olympic Games, he produced an international symposium and exhibition titled, The Physical Fitness of Cities: Vision and Ethics in City Building,  with Moshe Safdie and Samina Quraeshi.

Stephen was an Associate Professor/Lecturer at the University of Utah’s College of Architecture + Planning. While there he established an undergraduate major in Urban Ecology, and a minor in Dark Sky Studies. As director of the Center for the Living City, established with the support of Jane Jacobs prior to her death, he shepherded numerous publications and events, including the English translation of Jaime Lerner’s, Urban Acupuncture. Today, he continues his work on community projects including the Seven Canyons Trust, and The Temporary Museum of Permanent Change. 

In 2019, Stephen resettled in Portland, Oregon. There, he spends his days with trees both inside and outside of his woodworking studio.