Along the busy street of 4500 South sits a quaint white house. Since 1884, this historic home has housed multiple occupants; the first being one of Edward Pugh’s multiple wives. It is now a multiuse building and currently the show room for multitalented artists.

Sonata Gallery’s motivation for choosing their artists is unconventional compared to most galleries. Sonata seeks out people who are talented in their own right, but happen to have a knack for visual arts as well.

“We want to take beauty in performing arts and beauty in creating things and see how those people transform into visual arts,” says Art Director Cody Beal, “and then take it a step further into giving back.”

A sonata is made up of different movements that come together to form a complete work. This is apparent in everything the gallery is and strives to achieve. In addition to being a gallery, the building is home to Jacob Marketing Partners and Design who help with their invitations and exhibition catalogs, and the upstairs office is occupied by an inventor.

Billie Crocker bought the building in 2002 and renovated it so she could run a law office out of what is now the gallery space. She practiced law there for the past six years, but its potential as a gallery was too apparent for her to ignore.

As you walk in, you are greeted with a front desk in a room straight ahead — walls graced with artwork. To your right is a “preview room” where you can ask to see a potential purchase on a wall by itself under ideal light. The rest of the artwork can be found as you meander through the rooms and hallways of the main floor.

Sonata plans to host its grand opening on February 14 and will feature the landscapes of Christopher McKellar, principal violist for the Utah Symphony. The doors will open from 4-9 PM and the public will be treated to live music, Champagne, chocolates and aphrodisiacs. “Every gallery is a labor of love,” explains Cody Beal. “Everyone that loves art has a passion for it so it’s appropriate that we open on Valentine’s Day.”

In turn, Sonata wishes to extend that idea of love and beauty by donating a portion of the proceeds to charity. The charity will change with each artist. McKeller chose the Mundi Project as his charity. Mundi’s mission is to foster a love of music in the world by making piano education accessible to all youth along the Wasatch Front. Sonata hopes to set an example by enabling other people and organizations such as the Mundi Project to get involved with the community.

Everyone who works for Sonata has a different profession, but they want to take the creativity they possess in their work and extend that to the visual art they show in the gallery. Cody explains, “I am not an artist, but when I purchase a piece of art it gives me joy every time I look at it. I ask myself how I give that away and that’s where the charities come in. It’s monetary but it’s more than that, we want to take this energy and pass it along.”

Taking a more active interest in the general success of their artists is another focus of Sonata. Because their artists have full time jobs, they want to work to enter their work into local and national competitions and actively promote their art outside the gallery and create connections.

Painting by Christopher McKellar

The exhibitions will be driven by multitalented artists, but Sonata won’t turn away fine artists either. They want to show a variety of artists and a variety of styles so if you come and you don’t like what you see, come back for the next exhibit and you’ll see something completely different. They plan to change the exhibits every two to three months.

“Beauty doesn’t have boundaries and art doesn’t have boundaries,” says Cody. “I’m passionate about beautiful things. These are artists with a profession that requires them 24/7, but this still comes out of them, and everyone has that.”

Laura Durham

Laura Durham is the Director of Programming and Engagement for PBS Utah. She curates projects and plans events that utilize local and national media to provide entertainment and meaningful dialogue beyond broadcast. Prior to PBS Utah, Laura worked at the Division of Arts & Museums for 15 years, served as Vice President of the Salt Lake Gallery Association, Program Director for the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll, and was a board member for the Utah Cultural Alliance.