Nathan Florence’s 9th & 9th Studio:
Space and Light Lead to Art
By Darby Doyle for Utah Stories, Oct. 2018
Photo: Brian Butterfield
Tucked into the back of a long narrow lot near Salt Lake’s 9th & 9th district, Nathan Florence’s artist studio is a creative oasis in the midst of a bustling neighborhood. It’s a spot filled with natural light pouring in through the second-story windows on the west elevation, dappled by the shade of mature trees growing around the structure. On every surface are objects that he finds beautiful, from vintage tools to the paintings gifted him by other artists and the paint-encrusted palette knives he inherited from famed artist Trevor Southey.
“My idea for a designated creative space was informed by so many professors I knew in college and the studios of artist friends all over the country,” says Florence, who attended Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania for his undergraduate work. In particular, Florence’s design aesthetic was deeply influenced by his mentor in Philadelphia, Randall Exon. Says Florence of Exon, “He was a farm kid from Kansas, and I often felt like I was at a similar disadvantage coming from Utah. I thought, ‘If he can do it, I can be an artist, too.’”