11/10 SLTRIB: A study found West Valley City to be the least artsy city in America. Is that true?
There are people in West Valley City who would like to have a word with those who labeled their town “the least artsy city in America.”
West Valley is “a culturally diverse, artistic and engaging city,” countered Michael Christensen, who is visual arts manager for the Utah Cultural Celebration Center — one of the two major arts venues in the city (the other being the West Valley Performing Arts Center).
11/9 Springville Museum of Art has announced that after 10 years at the helm of the museum, Dr. Rita R. Wright will be retiring at the end of the year.
11/5 BYUtv Artful: Abigale Palmer / Fernando Cidoncha
Abigale Palmer loves color and discovers that difficult experiences, though uncomfortable, help us learn to communicate with Heavenly Father. Fernando Cidoncha creates sculptures and paintings that connect faith communities to their higher power.
11/2 SLUG MAG: “THE GIRL FROM HAWAI’I”: TALI ALISA HAFOKA’S CARRIED ACROSS AT UMOCA
There are 24 to-go boxes aligned neatly into two rows on a white table in Tali Alisa Hafoka’s new UMOCA exhibit, Carried Across. 24 paintings adorn the wall beside the table: a can of opened Spam, a cupcake with coconut shavings piled high, sardines packed tight into a tin. Each piece represents a hallmark of Pacific Islander cuisine. “I’ve been self-conscious about not being Samoan enough or ‘cultural’ enough,” Hafoka says. “When I make art about that, it’s so easy to own it.”
10/29 BYUtv Artful: Behnaz Karjoo / Justin Hackworth
Behnaz Karjoo creates illuminations of Islamic geometry that reflect God’s love and unity. Justin Hackworth is a portrait photographer who finds that God enters his life through those who step into his studio to have their picture taken.
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.
Categories: Mixed Media
Lawn Love? LAWN LOVE? The people whose livings depend on cutting off the water to the Great Salt Lake are telling us that West Valley City isn’t Artsy enough? And what they actually mean is that they compared the municipal budgets of 200 cities and only two in Utah so much as placed on the list?
Of course they’re ignoring some facts, such as that in every family there are musicians, performers, artists. I’ve lived in many of those 200 cities and I’ve never seen the kind of democratic participation in art making that goes on among the people of Utah. Those other 198 cities no doubt need to tax themselves to rent some art. Here, we make our own.