Leah Carlson Individual Post: Temple Square

For our very first walkabout, my group was assigned Temple Square. We were supposed to evaluate it as a public space, yet the area felt very private. There was a wall around the entire square, as if the church was trying to keep certain people out and maintain a distinct feeling within the space. Once we entered the square, it was very apparent the type of people that was acceptable within the area. The people in the square were all well-dressed, middle class people, mostly tourists who were curious about the church (whether they themselves were of the LDS persuasion or not). There were no homeless within the walls of the square. The general feeling was one of orderly control. All of the gardens were well organized and maintained, and the pathways were free of litter and grime. Inside every building, there were multiple sister missionaries who were eager to help and inform the visitors. This lent the space a sense of limited or forced welcoming; because I am not LDS, it felt a little smothering. The values displayed within the space were obviously conservative and patriarchal. (Every statue depicted either a founding father of the church or a loving mother and her gaggle of children.)