We’d suggest a new we-just-made-this-up-but-repeat-it-enough-times-and-maybe-it-will-stick post-Thanksgiving shopping day. Along the lines of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Call it “Artsy Fartsy Friday,” the day you go looking for handmade crafts and art to gift to those on your list with discerning tastes. Problem is, not everyone is doing it on the same day. While Salt Lake’s Gallery Stroll moves to a special first-Friday version on Dec. 5 to encourage holiday shopping, you’ll find some art-shopping events, like the Sugar House Winter Carnival (with some cool activities at Saltgrass Printmakers) and the Utah Museum of Fine Art’s Holiday Market, with free museum and market admission from 11 to 5, happening on Saturday Dec.6th (not to mention events in other towns that are still another week away). The Winter Carnival runs from 10:30 a.m. until 7 at night, while “Frozen” characters Elsa and Olaf will have autographed prints at Saltgrass beginning at 11 a.m. You can bring in T-shirts or buy one there for on-the-spot character printing, too.
Since “Artsy Fartsy Weekend” just doesn’t sound as good we’ll probably give up on the whole meme creation. But we don’t plan to give up on gifts for those art lovers on our list, so we sent out photographer Jared Christensen to take a peek at what’s available at some of the holiday shows, including the Glass Art Guild of Utah’s Glass in the Garden exhibit at Red Butte with free admission Dec. 6 and 7 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Artspace’s Holiday Show Dec. 5 from 6-9 p.m., the Utah Cultural Celebration Center’s Trees of Diversity and Winter Market Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,and Finch Lane’s annual Holiday Craft Market opening Dec. 5 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and running M-F from 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. and Sun. from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. through Dec. 21.
All well worth checking out, we think.
Jared Christensen holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from Westminster College (’12). He has since worked at Tanner Frames, and has been exploring the effects of presentation and framing in his and others’ work. He will soon be pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Curatorial Practice at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.
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