Here is a FANTASTIC artist and muralist that I’ve been keeping an eye on, Miles Toland, and his latest project:
a collaboration with Joseph Toney. -Roberto Quintana
From Toland’s Fall Equinox Newsletter:
a collaboration with Joseph Toney. -Roberto Quintana
From Toland’s Fall Equinox Newsletter:
"This May, I (Miles Toland) completed my largest mural to date with the help of my friend and collaborator,
Joseph Toney.
I’m really honored that we had an opportunity to paint on Utah’s tallest building, Astra Tower.
We were lucky enough to have the process documented
by our buddy Ryan Finder of View Finder Media. "
You can watch the 8 minute documentary on YouTube:
Joseph Toney.
I’m really honored that we had an opportunity to paint on Utah’s tallest building, Astra Tower.
We were lucky enough to have the process documented
by our buddy Ryan Finder of View Finder Media. "
You can watch the 8 minute documentary on YouTube:
SHORT FILM ‘ECHOES OF ETERNITY’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loLyW3gwt5Q
“Painting in the studio is what grounds me and painting in the street is what gets me high.
Street art is so interwoven with the surrounding people and place that I always feel a deep sense of connection to wherever I paint.” -Miles Toland
Street art is so interwoven with the surrounding people and place that I always feel a deep sense of connection to wherever I paint.” -Miles Toland
Article from:
The Blocks is the brand identity of Salt Lake’s Cultural Core, an initiative created by the City and County of Salt Lake to promote and develop arts and culture in the downtown area and to provide a reliable revenue source for 20 years.
201 South Main Street #2300, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
[email protected] (801) 364-3631
The Blocks is the brand identity of Salt Lake’s Cultural Core, an initiative created by the City and County of Salt Lake to promote and develop arts and culture in the downtown area and to provide a reliable revenue source for 20 years.
201 South Main Street #2300, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
[email protected] (801) 364-3631
“The first day we got our lift, we started working at full extension or over 80 feet off the ground,” says Miles Toland. “We’ve been pretty comfortable on [the lift] the whole time, but it did take us a few days to get our ‘lift legs,’” he explained. “There’s a bounce in the basket that we kept feeling even after we quit for the day and were on solid ground.”
To call their street art collaboration huge doesn’t fully capture this stunning piece. For perspective, its 14,000-square-foot area is the same size as three NBA basketball courts placed side-by-side. “We spent just over two days alone laying out the grid,” Toland says. “The scale is so massive, that it took quite a bit of forethought to get it right.” Toney adds, “We’re finding we’re using a combination of old systems and inventing new ones to get something this big done.”
At first glance, Toland’s and Toney’s artistic styles are very different. Toland’s work is detailed and intricate and often centers on the human form. “My surrealist paintings capture the mysterious places we visit between sleeping and waking,” reads his website artist statement. Much of his work also includes mandalas and geometric patterns that he says represent balance and order and are a nod to the cycles and rhythm of nature.
The mountains are at the heart of Toney’s aesthetic approach, interpreted with graceful and almost abstract striations to signify ridgelines, slopes and canyons. He describes his landscapes as “ultra-contemporary” and created to “reflect a deep connection to environmental issues, drawing inspiration from the vastness of the American West.”
Toland and Toney also have plenty in common, too.
Both are based here in Utah. Each’s repertoire includes studio work as well as murals, and both love the physicality offered by mural painting as well as the immersive experience of painting outside.
“I love watching those moments when a mural I’m working on connects to the spaces surrounding it,” Toland says, “when, because of how the light hits it, it becomes a living part of the environment.”
The two met and became friends when both were selected as presenting artists for the 2021 South Salt Lake Mural Fest. And then in early 2024, when Kensington Investment Company issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a mural to adorn the western wall of the then-to-be-completed Astra Tower, they decided to team up to throw their collective hat in the ring for consideration.
For Toney, the mural explores “the human connection to nature, the water cycle in the Wasatch and how we’re all connected to nature wherever we are, even in the heart of the city.” Toland pointed out how the piece’s focal point—two hands anchored in the landscape, one cradling the other–is intended to “speak to the intrinsic connection between nature and humans.” He also explained how the hands’ differing colors acknowledge diversity coming together in collaboration and unity.
To call their street art collaboration huge doesn’t fully capture this stunning piece. For perspective, its 14,000-square-foot area is the same size as three NBA basketball courts placed side-by-side. “We spent just over two days alone laying out the grid,” Toland says. “The scale is so massive, that it took quite a bit of forethought to get it right.” Toney adds, “We’re finding we’re using a combination of old systems and inventing new ones to get something this big done.”
At first glance, Toland’s and Toney’s artistic styles are very different. Toland’s work is detailed and intricate and often centers on the human form. “My surrealist paintings capture the mysterious places we visit between sleeping and waking,” reads his website artist statement. Much of his work also includes mandalas and geometric patterns that he says represent balance and order and are a nod to the cycles and rhythm of nature.
The mountains are at the heart of Toney’s aesthetic approach, interpreted with graceful and almost abstract striations to signify ridgelines, slopes and canyons. He describes his landscapes as “ultra-contemporary” and created to “reflect a deep connection to environmental issues, drawing inspiration from the vastness of the American West.”
Toland and Toney also have plenty in common, too.
Both are based here in Utah. Each’s repertoire includes studio work as well as murals, and both love the physicality offered by mural painting as well as the immersive experience of painting outside.
“I love watching those moments when a mural I’m working on connects to the spaces surrounding it,” Toland says, “when, because of how the light hits it, it becomes a living part of the environment.”
The two met and became friends when both were selected as presenting artists for the 2021 South Salt Lake Mural Fest. And then in early 2024, when Kensington Investment Company issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a mural to adorn the western wall of the then-to-be-completed Astra Tower, they decided to team up to throw their collective hat in the ring for consideration.
For Toney, the mural explores “the human connection to nature, the water cycle in the Wasatch and how we’re all connected to nature wherever we are, even in the heart of the city.” Toland pointed out how the piece’s focal point—two hands anchored in the landscape, one cradling the other–is intended to “speak to the intrinsic connection between nature and humans.” He also explained how the hands’ differing colors acknowledge diversity coming together in collaboration and unity.
How Astra Tower unintentionally
became Utah’s tallest building with the state’s largest mural
By: Carter Williams
became Utah’s tallest building with the state’s largest mural
By: Carter Williams
Article from:
Deseret News Publishing Company.
All Rights Reserved https://www.deseret.com/
Copyright © 2025
Deseret News Publishing Company.
All Rights Reserved https://www.deseret.com/
Copyright © 2025
SALT LAKE CITY — Ed Lewis never intended to construct Utah’s tallest building when his company began planning
Astra Tower some seven years ago.
However, designers needed to add height to account for the smaller lot size. Then, after compiling a market study, he found that they needed to add more parking to account for future renters who like to drive to locations all across the region. Adding a service elevator on the north side of the building required more height to account for 35 lost units.
Add it all up, and Kensington’s building suddenly became 41 stories and 451 feet high, pushing it past the 422-foot Wells Fargo Center to become the tallest building in downtown
Salt Lake City and the state.
All the building’s changes unintentionally led to a massive, eight-story wall that felt very blank as residents started
moving in. Kensington explored the idea of turning its western wall into a giant projector screen, but it ultimately settled on a partnership with the Salt Lake City Arts Council on a plan to fill about 13,000 square feet of space with paint.
They reached out to artists seeking to take on what would ultimately become the state’s largest mural,
which generated at least a few dozen submissions.
That’s where they came across
Miles Toland and Joseph Toney,
a pair of muralists whose work has popped up all over the world.
Toney, who lives in Utah, and Toland befriended each other during South Salt Lake’s Mural Fest a few years ago.
They kept in touch and, when they saw the artist request come in, they started talking about collaborating on a design.
Astra Tower some seven years ago.
However, designers needed to add height to account for the smaller lot size. Then, after compiling a market study, he found that they needed to add more parking to account for future renters who like to drive to locations all across the region. Adding a service elevator on the north side of the building required more height to account for 35 lost units.
Add it all up, and Kensington’s building suddenly became 41 stories and 451 feet high, pushing it past the 422-foot Wells Fargo Center to become the tallest building in downtown
Salt Lake City and the state.
All the building’s changes unintentionally led to a massive, eight-story wall that felt very blank as residents started
moving in. Kensington explored the idea of turning its western wall into a giant projector screen, but it ultimately settled on a partnership with the Salt Lake City Arts Council on a plan to fill about 13,000 square feet of space with paint.
They reached out to artists seeking to take on what would ultimately become the state’s largest mural,
which generated at least a few dozen submissions.
That’s where they came across
Miles Toland and Joseph Toney,
a pair of muralists whose work has popped up all over the world.
Toney, who lives in Utah, and Toland befriended each other during South Salt Lake’s Mural Fest a few years ago.
They kept in touch and, when they saw the artist request come in, they started talking about collaborating on a design.
“We did know how large it was gonna be, and that was
part of the excitement behind the project,”
Toney told KSL.com, recalling the origin.
All of the artists were given the freedom to design whatever they wanted. Toney and Toland bounced around pencil sketches nearly a dozen times before they pieced together four designs. One concept ultimately featured human hands forming out of clouds and mountains, locking hands up over a lake. A few migratory birds are flying above, next to an immense orange moon, all of which is meant to symbolize the cooperation and collaboration across different groups needed to address the stewardship of Utah’s natural beauty.
Toland and Toney started working on the mural last month, using about 70 gallons of paint and another 20 gallons of varnish. They estimate they also went through about 100 spray paint cans over four weeks to slowly turn the giant blank wall into a massive art piece.
“It’s an honor to know that our work is at this scale,”
Toland said.
“The largest wall might be a temporary title
but an exciting title nonetheless for the time being.”
“I’m stoked on how our styles came together
on this 14,000 sq/ft wall.”
Miles Tolland
https://www.milestoland.com/about
My surrealist paintings capture the mysterious places we visit between sleeping and waking. I invite the viewer into this liminal space by blending familiar elements of our objective world with ethereal textures and geometric patterns of the unseen world. The mandalas and the organic fluidity of wood grain suggest the subjects’ energy extending beyond their physical bodies and into the subtle realm of spirit. I approach my art as a practice of bringing resistance into resonance by honoring the beauty in dissipation and decay, and finding wisdom in nature’s forms.
Joseph Toney
https://toney.co/about
Joseph Toney honed his artistic practice growing up in Western North Carolina and earned a BFA from Appalachian State University. After exploring various locations in the West, he settled in Salt Lake City, Utah. Toney creates ultra-contemporary landscapes that reflect a deep connection to environmental issues, drawing inspiration from the vastness of the American West. His illustrative painting style reimagines these landscapes with meticulous attention to detail, resulting in abstracted memoryscapes. His work is showcased worldwide, appearing in private collections, large-scale murals, and commercial products in the outdoor industry.
https://www.milestoland.com/about
My surrealist paintings capture the mysterious places we visit between sleeping and waking. I invite the viewer into this liminal space by blending familiar elements of our objective world with ethereal textures and geometric patterns of the unseen world. The mandalas and the organic fluidity of wood grain suggest the subjects’ energy extending beyond their physical bodies and into the subtle realm of spirit. I approach my art as a practice of bringing resistance into resonance by honoring the beauty in dissipation and decay, and finding wisdom in nature’s forms.
Joseph Toney
https://toney.co/about
Joseph Toney honed his artistic practice growing up in Western North Carolina and earned a BFA from Appalachian State University. After exploring various locations in the West, he settled in Salt Lake City, Utah. Toney creates ultra-contemporary landscapes that reflect a deep connection to environmental issues, drawing inspiration from the vastness of the American West. His illustrative painting style reimagines these landscapes with meticulous attention to detail, resulting in abstracted memoryscapes. His work is showcased worldwide, appearing in private collections, large-scale murals, and commercial products in the outdoor industry.
And here’s a link to my Blog on Toland from back on
5/16/2022
http://www.artandsoulproductions.com/blog/miles-toland-surrealist-muralist
Especially check out Toland’s murals
at the ‘Beatles Ashram”
https://www.milestoland.com/beatlesashram
5/16/2022
http://www.artandsoulproductions.com/blog/miles-toland-surrealist-muralist
Especially check out Toland’s murals
at the ‘Beatles Ashram”
https://www.milestoland.com/beatlesashram
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