Ruth Christensen writes full time for Imagine Learning, an education-based software company in Provo. She also works as a freelance writer, musician, and teacher after having taught vocal music for many years at BYU, UVU, and SUU.
“Mecklenberg Autumn” by Romare Bearden As the American artist Barbara Januszkiewicz once noted, people need to “be drawn to the visual arts [to] expand [the] imagination.” On the power of art and progress, Januszkiewicz further stated, “creative thinking inspires ideas [and] ideas inspire change.” Embracing Diverse Voices: A […]
Utah in winter presents not an altogether pristine landscape if you ask a local meteorologist. As those who live here can attest, the Wasatch Front is no stranger to temperature inversions that trap colder, smoggy air beneath a warmer air layer. The resulting haze is not only unpleasant; […]
Ask Martha Sargent, director of the Utah Baroque Ensemble, how the group began nearly 30 years ago and she smiles. It’s a question she’s heard often. “The choir really began with Douglas Bush and the Utah Bach Choir,” she says, “but when Doug got too busy to continue […]
What do a rusty sewer grate, “Llama Crossing” street sign, rabbit, and a metal screen door have in common? On the surface, not much. Aside from the llama-crossing sign, these are all ordinary things anyone might see in a neighborhood or while out for a drive in the […]
When Walter Askin was a child, he gravitated to the small roses on the wallpaper in his childhood home—but only because the pattern inspired him to draw small boats, figures, and other objects inside the roses. After his mother expressed her ire over Walter’s decorating efforts, he realized […]
Night after night, a young white woman watches news broadcasts about police violence against African- American citizens. Although she lives far away, she is moved to act against the brutality she sees on the screen by joining the protest effort. The year is 1965—but it could just as […]
In response to the famed “Four Freedoms” speech given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January, 1941, American painter Norman Rockwell created an iconic series of paintings by the same name (finished in 1943). The first painting, entitled Freedom of Speech, features a man engaged in offering a […]
Everyone’s favorite musician and folklorist, Hal Cannon is performing with his group 3hattrio at a free in-store concert and Dark Desert Night CD release at Ken Sanders’ Rare Books in Salt Lake City (Thursday, Nov. 5th), followed by two performances at the Moab Folk Festival (Nov. 6-7). Modern dance patrons can sample five of 3hattrio’s pieces in tandem with RDT at “Revel” (November 19 – 21, 2015) at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City.
