The traditional presentation of dance has grown increasingly inaccessible in these times, and often the staging of a performance is an artistic expression all its own. On the evening of June 17, in the basement and backyard of a suburban home in Draper, I attended one such act […]
At Ogden Contemporary Arts (OCA), which just received the Utah Cultural Alliance’s 2022 Utah Exceptional Cultural Contribution Award, Survey: The West is an exhibit composed of Ya La’ford’s signature geometric design and ethnography. La’ford is an internationally recognized painter, installation artist, muralist, social practice artist and educator from […]
Firstly, “Ally Up!” was a fantastic opportunity for people watching. During the pre-show hour or so of hotdog eating and mingling, I saw the highest number of mustaches in one place than any other event I’d been at and at least four feminist t-shirts in the wake of […]
The cover of a chaise lounge looks more like a painter’s canvas than an invitation to lie down. One plant shades it, but another grows right through it. Yet it appears someone has succeeded in drowsing here, and further that whatever troubled their sleep has left a record: […]
Not all walls are created equal. Ask any mural artist. Some are relatively smooth, others worn rough with age. Some are broad and accessible. Others are tall or out-of-reach. Trent Call has painted just about every type. His works have been going up on walls in the Salt […]
Encircle is an ever-expanding non-profit organization that supports members of the LGBTQ+ community in Utah. Founded in 2016 by Stephanie Larsen, Encircle began as a gathering place and resource center for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. With locations now in Provo, Salt Lake City, and St. George, Encircle […]
In the foreground of “I Dreamt I Could Help You,” a large oil and acrylic painting on canvas by Eli Kauffman, two young persons confront each other through the open, driver’s side window of a bright, flame red car. We see the driver through a spiderweb of cracks […]
These must be some of the least iconic images of Utah ever to grace the walls of the State Capitol building. In place of, say, that monument to eons of slow erosion, Delicate Arch, an isolated monolith standing in a virtual sea of bare red rock, “Azure Stream” […]
During your First Friday Art Stroll each month in Ogden, you may find yourself lucky enough to run into a man named Codey Quintana, wearing a satchel full of zines and stickers ready to be handed out. Quintana is a digital artist and the creator of the OUNCE […]
In response to the historical challenge presented by the camera, painters have sought, and found, ways to surpass the limits of photography by doing things with paint that far exceed anything the camera can do. But since most of the art we see still comes to us through […]
After a two-year Covid hiatus, the Utah Arts Festival has returned to downtown Salt Lake City, June 23 – 26, with six stages, more than 170 artists and 200 performances. Here’s a taste: Artists of all mediums show off their talent, ensuring you’ll be able to find […]
Kalani Tonga is embracing her “hafekasi weirdness” in Midvale. Originally from Allen, TX, Tukuafu now calls Midvale home and was able to celebrate her personal heritage with her neighbors as part of the Midvale Main Street Mural Festival. Tonga’s father is from Tonga and her mother’s family has […]
In Renaissance workshops, artists often specialized: for a nativity scene or portrait of a noble, one artist might work on all the background landscapes, while another might be called in to paint the folds in a saint’s robes and a third would show off their skills on delicately […]
The following is a conversation with Nick Blaylock, the choreographer and just one of the many artists that came together to make the film Traverse in 2016. The film is getting a screening this July 1 at the Rose Wagner, along with some new choreography performed and produced […]
In Crockett Johnson’s classic children’s book (which has been adapted for the screen), a young boy named Harold wields a magic purple crayon that brings to life the world of his imagination. With it, he draws animals or houses or trees, or simply drags it along by his […]
Friday evening, at the Utah Arts Festival in downtown Salt Lake City, seven of the city’s most creative will be heading to the Festival Stage to accept a 2022 Mayor’s Artists Award. Since 1992, the awards have honored artists and art organizations who, according to the city’s press […]
(Solve For) X, Katharine Coles’ latest collection, is loaded with lush work that is entirely captivating: I spent 10 weeks on the first poem alone — all eight lines of it. Immobilized by its wit and mesmerizing rhythm, its delightfully puzzling message — I couldn’t bear to move […]
The sun was hot in my face as I walked down the hill to the amphitheater in Bountiful’s North Canyon Park to see Stay, produced by the Salt Lake Ballet Cooperative in collaboration with DEXO. Nested at the bottom of a hill within the scrub oak, the venue […]
Art is play. It’s also work, hard work: work so challenging many people assume they can’t do it. But that’s because they think it’s nothing but work. Better they thought it was play. To be sure, Mike Whiting works very hard on his art. The precision demanded by […]
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