In 1987 poet Scott Cairns, then a teacher of creative writing at Westminster College, organized the first series of poetry readings at the college. Under Cairns’ directorship, followed by Katharine Coles’, and now under that of Natasha Sajé’s, The Anne Newman Sutton Weeks Poetry Series eventually included such […]
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Eric Samuelsen, resident playwright for Plan-B Theatre Company. His latest work, Clearing Bombs, will debut on February 20. During our conversation, I was struck by Samuelsen’s success: 20 years as professor in the theatre department at Brigham Young University […]
If asked to name an artist they know something about, most people would probably reply, ‘Vincent.’ They might well defend their nomination by pointing out that he was precisely what comes to mind when someone says ‘artist.’ He was notoriously daft: inspired, driven mad by the very […]
Unlike most traveling exhibitions, the pieces on display as part of do it did not arrive at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) in large wooden shipping crates to be unpacked and installed. Instead, the do-it-yourself project, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and organized by Independent Curators […]
Christmas is a time for traditions, mostly welcome, but we could do without a recent one: the culture clash that’s come to be known as the ‘Christmas Wars.’ The pattern will be familiar to anyone who has followed the national news, or for that matter ever been bullied, […]
C. Wade Bentley’s poetry chapbook Askew is appropriately titled because so many of its poems accentuate the way reality can be tilted through verse to expose bits of newness in the monotony of everyday life. Bentley’s poems are often narrative in that they tell a story in miniature, a small […]
“My paintings come out of my love/hate relationship with Modernism,” says Utah artist Steven Stradley. “Modernism pigeon-holed itself, I think. [Clement] Greenberg pigeon-holed it as he had all of those ideas about painting as a flat surface, ideas about painting super-imposed upon the work that maybe did not […]
“Money doesn’t talk; it swears” — Bob Dylan Money does a lot of things, and like swearing, they can be good or bad. Consider twenty-first century art, for example. Money attracts talent, and with unprecedented amounts of money flowing into the art market, there is so much wonderful […]
The nineteenth-century Utah artist Alfred Lambourne (1850-1926) loved Great Salt Lake. Nestled within a basin, the body of water he referred to as his “inland sea” was his source of adventure and joy, his faithful companion and as such, his preferred place for solitude. His relationship with […]
Waterscapes by Connie Borup opening January 17th at Salt Lake City’s Phillips Gallery once again demonstrates the power of resurrection. Not just the renewal of nature, but the regenerating endurance of Borup’s idiom. Working in oils on medium-sized canvases, Borup continues to explore nature, and how little we […]
What is the nature of a narrative? It has a beginning, it has a development that involves content, often conflict, ideally growth and progression, and it has an end. The best narratives are the ones that have an end that does not end, that through our experience of […]
Park City has been transformed three times. First with mining. Then with skiing. And over the past two decades it has been transformed, at least one month out of the year, by Hollywood. So, as the glitterati take over this month during the Sundance Film Festival, we’re taking […]
Light has been many things to artists, from the scientific explorations of the Post-Impressionists, to the primary place it took in the Modernist agenda of formalism and even its place in contemporary atmospheres of total transience. What are we to think, then, when a contemporary artist calls something […]
As a planner and goal-setter in all aspects of my life, including art creation and marketing, I’m afraid I may overdo it. I fear that too much planning and scheduling may leave one blind to those serendipitous opportunities that could enhance creativity, not to mention joy of living. […]
READ LOCAL First is your glimpse into the working minds and hearts of Utah’s literary writers. Today, 15 Bytes features poet Joel Long who provides two recently completed (and unpublished) poems below. Sunday Blog Read continues […]
What is your new year’s resolution? Here at 15 Bytes we want to have more art conversations. That’s why we’ve created our “do you art?” hoodies. Now when we’re out and about fellow art enthusiasts will know “we art.” Let the conversations begin. Want to join the conversation? […]
A few years ago, a Snow College graduate was nearly dropped from the BFA program at Weber State for submitting drawings that resembled photographic double exposures. In one, a woman had two heads; in another, an ear of one face burst through another’s cheek. Ironically, they would […]
With our best Happy Solstice wishes go out to all of the artists and art lovers who make Utah a great place for art, including Nancy Holt, creator of Sun Tunnels. This shot is courtesy of Hikmet Loe, from the Winter Solstice in 2002. Follow the link below […]
The Francis H. Zimbeaux Trust has kindly donated a large collection of work by the late Utah artist to help raise funds for Artists of Utah and 15 Bytes. And this Saturday you have the chance to pick some up for yourself, at a price that means you’ll […]
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