Today is the Salt Lake County Art Committee’s Open House at the Salt Lake County Building (2100 South and State). Every year the County government provides money for the purchase of artwork to add to its public collection, begun in 1985. A volunteer committee, made up of artists, art professionals and art collectors, meets every month to consider works for purchase. Unique to a public collection, the entire County collection is constantly on display, spread throughout county-owned buildings all over the Salt Lake Valley.

Every November, the Art Committee holds an annual open house to invite the public to view the newly purchased pieces, meet members of the Committee and artists in the community, and tour the works on display at the County building. This year’s open house is today from 5 to 7 pm. Mayor Peter Corroon and members of the County Council will be in attendance and Bill Seifrit will give a short talk about the collection at 5:30. The public is invited.

The Art Committee consists of 15 volunteer members who serve for up to two 3-year terms. Like at a potluck dinner, every member of the Committee brings their own experience and taste to create a diverse collection. This year’s purchases include bronze wildlife art, fabric art, abstract expressionism and a large (10′ x 12′) narrative painting by Brad Slaugh, Portinari’s Potluck (pictured here). The title refers to Hugo van der Goes’ Portinari Altarpiece an early Flemish Renaissance religious work in which the figures’ relative size depends on their importance to the narrative. Slaugh has transformed this practice to his depiction of a family gathering in which his feelings about the participants are reflected in their relative size.

The Salt Lake County Art Committee Open House is today 5 to 7 pm at the North Building of the County Complex at 2100 South State Street.

15 Bytes

UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.