Got a few bucks to spend on some artful activities this weekend? Or are you stony broke? Either way, we’ve got suggestions for taking a walk on the creative side.

Friday

SLC

May Day on Main: Well, this is VERY cool. Floral-themed exhibitions, Garden Stroll Pop-up Parks and Painters, Street Performances by Utah Opera and a bunch of others (Piano Bike, Disco Trolley, anyone?) and some businesses open late for foodies and more — like paintings by Ran Stewart in the Hotel Monaco lobby and murals from the old Mayflower Cafe in Ray’s Barber Shop at 154 S. Main.  Pizza at Pier 49. 149 Main Pop-up Gallery features Decay, a solo exhibition by Sarina Villareal. Hope Gallery and Museum of Fine Art at 151 S. Main has a collection of European masters from the 16th to 21st centuries and Art 270 that we featured in January has a group floral exhibit going on called, not surprisingly, Flora.

It’s a Salt Lake Gallery Stroll creation, and Richard Boyer will be doing  plein-air night paintings of Main Street and Hadley Rampton will be making cityscapes in watercolor on Main. You’ve got your parks and window installations: South Temple, West: Ethan Barley; City Creek Center has a Planted Studio by Urban Growth and a Divine Define Garden by Brandon Wheeler, both at the Sky Bridge. You’ll find the MDD Student Contingency at Zions Bank; Keir Lee-Barber at Utah Arts Building; Living Room, a window installation by Brady Petersen and Natalie Cooper at Historical First National Bank; Scott Soltrinic at Utah One; Kevin Arthofer at Gallivan Center; Matt Monson at Wells Fargo Center. http://gallerystroll.org/mayday.htm

Lots to see, in other words. So go and DO. This sort of event should be encouraged, no?

Have rug rats? Or slightly bigger kids? All you parents who post pics of your adorable children on FB, pay attention. CUAC and The Salt Lake City Library are combining forces to offer unique, free art workshops for preschoolers (ages 3–5) and elementary school students (ages 5+). Each week presents a new experience and new information—no registration necessary. This time they are showing very little ones that artists can be inventors – and inventors can be artists. From Leonardo to street artists and spray-paint cans – put them in one of your smocks, of course, because it will get messy! And YOU can’t go, as cool as this sounds. It’s for kids.

Day-Riverside Branch (Kids ages 3–5) | FREE
Each Friday 11 a.m. – May 6, 13, 20, 27

Check here for other ages, days, locations. Also questions: art@cuartcenter.org

BOUNTIFUL
Motherhood Project: Photography of Jalene Taylor, Bountiful Davis Art Center, 90 N. Main St., Bountiful, opening reception 7-8:30 p.m. After facing her own struggles, Taylor looked at eight mothers with unique trials and challenges, whether being a single mom, battling cancer, or being a mother of a child with a disability. Show is up through June 17.

Last chance Friday:

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To see Laurel Caryn’s History of Photography at Alice Gallery, where reviewer Christine Baczek tells us the artist appropriates the slide libraries from the art history and photography departments of the University of Utah (where Caryn is Assistant Professor/Lecturer in the Art and Art History Department) to reflect upon the slide as both object and purveyor of the historical canon. She uses simple techniques and simple visual cues to set the stage for a rich reflection on the photographic object, the collective memory, and the teaching of history (see the article). Alice Gallery, 617 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City.

To see Grant Fuhst’s and Paul Vincent Bernard’s show at Green Loft Co-Op, 2834 Highland Drive, a funky little gallery on two floors (be sure to visit the basement). Fuhst’s work is excellent but a little on the spooky side; Bernard, of course, is all black and white and Italian (smile-not) (exactly). This time he is showing some colorful pieces that aren’t abstract (gasp!). It’s really worth seeing. Both have studios at Poor Yorick, where we used to hang. So go check it out. https://www.facebook.com/gogreenloft/

OREM

Dada-Outsider Film Nite, celebrating a hundred years of DADA! (So what, they ask.) 6 -9 p.m., presented by UVU Humanities/Philosophy Department, 800 W. University Parkway, Orem, CB209. First Fridays through August. http://www.dada1916-2016.com/

ST. GEORGE
To see McGarren Flack and Dixie University’s Art Department Showcase, reviewed by Alisha Burton in our Daily Blog on April 27. Not only a terrific artist in his own right, Flack introduced undraped models to the life drawing class— upending decades of classes using only swimsuit-clad models. Be aware that he had good reasons. Still, gotta love the guy.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

SLC
“The Count of Monte Cristo” – A MUSICAL! Seriously. Don’t know why that strikes us as, well, different. It has been a hit in Europe in this format and it’s the professional U.S. premiere by Tony-nominated composer Frank Wildhorn at Pioneer Memorial Theatre, Salt Lake City. Starts at 8 p.m. Friday; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets: pioneertheatre.org, 801-581-6961

PROVO
Love Your Neighbor: And what artistic neighbors they are! Utah County’s Cassandra Barney, Namon Bills, Brian Kershisnik, James Rees, Jenna von Benedikt and some 20 others (too many to list) will participate in a “short” art exhibit promoting kindness and community curated by artists Eric Boothe and Emily Larsen. The show aims to “unite the local art community by reminding us that we are all truly connected as neighbors and human beings despite differences in values, opinions and ideas.” Several children also will exhibit on the same theme. Commissions for all work sold will be donated to the Provo Food & Care Coalition. Studio Wyld, 1644 S. State St., Provo, Friday, 6-9 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Details: emilylarsenart@gmail.com, loveyourneighborartshow.wordpress.com

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.