by amanda moore

15 Bytes sat down with the four major candidates in the Salt Lake City mayoral race to get their views on arts in Salt Lake City. We asked each of them the same set of questions, and although each expressed general support, their answers varied as much as might be expected.

Ralph Becker, Keith Christensen, Dave Buhler and Jenny Wilson are running in the Salt Lake City mayoral primaries held Tuesday September 11th. For a full transcript of the interviews, look for the links at the bottom of this article.

Artistic Tastes and Influences
A print of James Jones’ “North Rim Grand Canyon” was Ralph Becker’s  most recent acquisition, and he cites the Work Progress Administration (WPA) artist H.L.A. Culmer as one of his favorites. “We need to be continually promoting the great Utah art we have,” he says about the local art scene. He met with 15 Bytes at his office and campaign headquarters. The office is decorated with bears—prints, stuffed, and other—all given to him by friends in reference to the name of his company, Bear West.

Dave Buhler, a fan of Leconte Stewart and other rural landscapist artists, couldn’t name the last piece of art he acquired. “I may need to consult my wife, he joked. He met with 15 Bytes at the Anderson Foothill Library, the site of an Olympic Art project he is proud to have championed. |1| “I thought it would be really neat to have a sculpture,” he says about his input over the selection. One educational aspect of his project called for a scale model of the sculpture to be given to each of the schools in his district.

Keith Christensen collects the work of a variety of artists in his home, including the art of several Utahns. He laments having had to go to Arizona to buy a piece by Utah native Kent Wallis. He feels the Salt Lake City mayor should help “give artists of that quality a forum in Salt Lake City.” He met with 15 Bytes at his home, which is full of a collection of sculpture and paintings ranging from Kent Wallis (“[he has a] bold, colorful approach to things”) and Eric Wallis (“a young talent that is going to be incredible”) to original Disney animation cells. His most recent acquisition was a piece by Springville artist Marty Ricks.

Jenny Wilson’s latest acquisition, a Ted Wassmer piece, was a gift from her mother, Kathryn Wilson, owner of Sego Gallery. “My mom has made a career out of being an artist and gallery owner,” says Wilson, “[and I] married a guy whose mother is in the same camp—a very strong visual artist.” Wilson lists as her favorite artists her mother, Kathryn Wilson, and her mother-in-law, Marah Brown Rohovit. Extending beyond the family, Wilson enjoys Kathryn Stats, a southern Utah landscape painter.

Support for Art in Salt Lake City
“What I have done in the past couple years,” says Buhler, “is increase the funding [for the Salt Lake City Arts Council].” Buhler explains that when going over the city budget, if you want to add some money here, you have to take it from there. “So it’s not a small thing to say we put some money in [the Salt Lake City Arts Council] that was not [originally] in that budget.” He adds: “I am very supportive of the work they do. I think they manage it well.” Buhler is also on the advisory board for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

“Artspace is really interesting,” says Christensen. “I spent some time working on Artspace when I was on the City Council.” In fact, Stephen Goldsmith, the person behind Artspace, is a member of Christensen’s campaign steering committee. Christensen looks at a wide variety of artistic media: “When I think visual arts, I don’t just think painting—I think of the display of visual arts outside. It is exciting to see street art; it makes the street come alive.” Christensen applauds what is happening on 300 South, and wants to see more places where people can stroll and interact with art and galleries. “I think of [great places to go] like San Francisco and New York, and art is a big part of those communities.”

Wilson is happy to be a member of the Salt Lake County Council, which has “already helped [the Salt Lake Art Center] substantially” by making sure they’re housed rent-free. “I think it’s a very important entity within the community … I think they do a great job.” Wilsons favorite places to view art include “really small galleries that have some very unusual things. Part of art appreciation and really learning from art is seeing some of the really innovative and creative kind of funky, sometimes not-so-successful projects.” Wilson is also on the advisory board for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

As a member of the planning commission in the mid-1990’s, Becker says he helped identify and support a cultural district on 300 South that would become the thriving local art scene it is today. He is proud to still enjoy it, and referred to the recent Laura Besterfeldt show at the Kayo Gallery as “amazing.” As for supporting the Salt Lake City Arts Council: “I really don’t know what their need is versus what they get.” But, “I think Nancy [Boskoff, director of the SLC Arts Council,] is fantastic at her job.”

“If Elected Mayor . . .”
Christensen recognizes the value art plays in how livable a city is. “It is indispensable to the vitality of community, particularly our downtown area.” Christensen also recognizes that it makes strong business sense to foster a strong art scene: “Art itself draws people … the convention and tourist business is a big thing to us, and people want to know what they can go look at, what they can see.” Christensen sees the role of the mayor’s office as an important one in the arts scene: “Funding is imperative … We have wonderful people donating to the arts continually. The better we do, the more inclined they will be to donate as well.”

When asked what the mayor’s office could do to better serve the visual arts community, Wilson refers to her website and her ideas on a “creative economy.” She stresses that we have to focus on our creative industries in the new developments downtown, including “fostering young people who are creative with technology, architectural firms, graphic artists, [and] more galleries.” Wilson adds: “I really believe that the arts enrich learning … I want to see more arts back in the schools.” What does she hope to do as mayor for art in the city? “We really need to get a better understanding to the community that art is a priority.”

“We need to be continually promoting the great Utah art we have, says Becker. “We have a great diversity of visual artists and galleries.” As mayor, Becker would be an advocate for the arts: “I think part of the job of mayor is promoting Utah and Salt Lake City’s assets.” Becker notes his involvement with the 300 South corridor: “I think it really helps to have a concentration of art places. We actually have that right now on Broadway. We need to examine how to protect that space.”

Buhler is consistent with his campaign: “I think being accessible, reasonable, open to [the visual arts community], be willing to listen to them. Continuing to support the 1% for art.” Buhler notes how much he relied on Nancy Boskoff and the Salt Lake City Arts Council when installing the Olympic sculpture at the Anderson Foothill Library. “I had the idea, but I had no idea how to pull it off … [The Salt Lake Art Council] took care of that for me.” Buhler would continue to support the Art Council if elected mayor: “[Visual arts] can be an area that can be tough for cities or government to be involved in, but I think they manage it very, very well.”

The Salt Lake City mayoral primaries are Tuesday, September 11. Read the full interviews: Ralph Becker, Keith Christensen, Jenny Wilson, Dave Buhler.

Ralph Becker
1. What was the last piece of art you bought?

Print, North Rim Grand Canyon, James Jones. Purchased about a year ago

2. Who is your favorite Utah artist living or dead?

WPA artist Culmer.

3. Have you ever attended a gallery stroll event in Salt Lake City, when?

Yes, a couple of months ago

4. What is one of your favorite galleries/museum/art spaces in SLC?

Phillips, Tivoli (when it was still here), A gallery, Southam, UMFA, Salt Lake Art Center. Utah Artist’s Hands

5. The Salt Lake City Arts Council is an important part of the Salt Lake City visual arts scene. What could be done to increase funding for this entity?

I don’t know what their funding sources are? ZAP Fund, City Budget. I think Nancy is fantastic at her job. I really don’t know what their need is versus what they get.

6. Do you have any final thoughts about what the mayor’s office could do to better serve the visual arts community?

Gallery Stroll is a great start. We need to be continually promoting the great Utah art we have, both performing and visual. We have a great diversity of visual artists and galleries. I just saw an amazing exhibit on Nipples at Kayo gallery. I think part of the job of mayor is promoting Utah and Salt Lake City’s assets. The gallery stroll really helps in this regard; I think it helps to have a well-identified arts corridor in Salt Lake. We actually did that back when I was on the planning commission in the mid nineties, as part of the downtown master plan, we identified a cultural district on 300 South extending east west. I think it really helps to have a concentration of art places. We actually have that right now with Broadway. We need to examine how to protect that space.

Dave Buhler
1. What was the last piece of art you bought?

Well, that’s a good question. I may need to consult my wife, let me get back to you on that.

2. Who is your favorite Utah artist living or dead?

Leconte Stewart, I think is great. I like the rural landscape.

3. Have you ever attended a gallery stroll event in Salt Lake City, when?

I have not. But I am very supportive of it. I think it is a great idea.

4. What is one of your favorite galleries/museum/art spaces in SLC?

I have visited a lot of galleries; Williams and I don’t know all of their names. I am actually on the advisory board for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, as is Jenny (Wilson). We are on there together. I guess it is called the national leadership council. Haven’t been too active this year for obvious reasons. But so obviously that is a great museum. The museum of Utah Art and History is struggling a little bit. But I have been supportive of everything they have been trying to do.

5. The Salt Lake City Arts Council is an important part of the Salt Lake City visual arts scene. What could be done to increase funding for this entity?

One of the reasons I wanted to bring you here (Anderson Foothill Library) is because I worked so closely with Nancy Boskoff and the arts council. Because I had the idea but I had no idea how to pull it off. How to get a sculptor, how to contract, how to budget, all of that. So they took care of that for me. We had a committee (which ironically I invited Jenny Wilson to be on the committee which she was because of her involvement with the Olympics and their volunteers) in selecting the artists. What I have done in the past couple years is increase the funding the last two years. The (city) council has, it has not been in the mayor’s budget. Just to let you know, not to get into too much minutiae, the mayor gives us a budget that is balanced, any changes we make so if we put more money somewhere we have to find it somewhere. So its not a small thing to say we put some money in that was not in that budget because that means somebody else did not get their funding or things got juggled around. I don’t know what their exact numbers were but I think its budget got increased around 25, 30 thousand. There had not been an increase in a long, long time, besides salaries for the people who worked there. As far as their program money, it had not been increased in like 10 years, I am sure Nancy can tell you. I am very supportive of the work they do. I think we get a great bang for our buck. I think they manage it well. And this can be an area that can be tough for cities or government to be involved in but I think they manage it very, very well.

6. Do you have any final thoughts about what the mayor’s office could do to better serve the visual arts community?

I think being accessible, reasonable, open to them, be willing to listen to them. Continuing to support the 1% for art. I think is important. I think public art; again of all of these 7 (Olympic) projects, mine was the most artistic. I don’t mean that to be a criticism of anyone else’s, but just that that shows you where my priorities are. I thought it would be really neat to have a sculpture.

Keith Christensen

1. What was the last piece of art you bought?

Marty Ricks, Springville Piece Private Estate, SLC, showing of Utah artists

2. Who is your favorite Utah artist living or dead?

Kent Wallis (I like because of his bold colorful, approach to things. He makes things come alive) and Eric Wallis (I think Eric is a young talent that is going to be incredible) I have had the pleasure of meeting both.

3. Have you ever attended a gallery stroll event in Salt Lake City, when?

Yes, probably haven’t been since the campaign started in about a year. We are contemplating going this evening.

4. What is one of your favorite galleries/museum/art spaces in SLC?

Frankly I am not going to name a favorite I like them all. The Artspace is really interesting; I spent some time working on Artspace when I was on City Council. Kathy Miller got me tuned into it. I did what was necessary to keep that project viable.

5. The Salt Lake City Arts Council is an important part of the Salt Lake City visual arts scene. What could be done to increase funding for this entity?

Well funding, what can be done, it’s exciting. First when I think visual arts I don’t just think painting I think of the display of visual arts outside. It is exciting when you see street art, it makes the street come alive, I think it is important that we don’t just encourage visual arts like painting that is going on in this community but also the artists willing to help us bring the street to life. Things that can withstand the seasons. I applaud some of what is going on Third South. I am very proud of even the 4th south alignment for Trax up to the University of Utah and some of the artistic things we’ve been able to accomplish there. I worked hard on that line so I smile when I see the artistic side of it. We don’t just see the rails and wires.

Funding is imperative; I think it is clear we need both public and private funding in the arts. We have wonderful people donating to the arts continually. The better we do, the more inclined they will be to donate as well. But the art community in Utah needs to flourish. I can name places, when we talk to people. What do we think when we think of a great place to go and what do you do with your free time once you go there. In my mind, I think of places like San Francisco and New York and art is a big part of those Communities. Santa Fe is a favorite place of ours. In our free time we stroll art galleries and you don’t have to buy to appreciate and enjoy them.

6. Do you have any final thoughts about what the mayor’s office could do to better serve the visual arts community?

Well, the mayors office, well the mayor himself, should focus on the art community. It is indispensable to the vitality of community particularly our downtown area as is restaurants and other things you might think of as necessary to make it lively, entertainment. Art itself draws people. I don’t care if we live here or if we are just visiting here, the convention and tourists business is big thing to us. People want to know what they can go look at, what they can see. Local Artists, we have them through out the state of Utah and they really need to be highlighted here in Salt Lake. The nice Wallis we have, we had to go to Arizona to buy it. We found it in Scottsdale. And I liked it because it was Kent Wallis, a Utah artist. We need to give artists of that quality a forum in Salt Lake City; the mayor can play a big role in that.

Jenny Wilson
1. What was the last piece of art you bought?

Ted Wassman, it was a gift from my mom for Christmas. Kathryn Wilson (mother) owner of Sego Gallery

2. Who is your favorite Utah artist living or dead?

Kathryn Wilson (mom), Marah Brown Rohovit (mother in law). Outside of the Family it would have to be Kathryn Stats, southern Utah landscape painter

3. Have you ever attended a gallery stroll event in Salt Lake City, when?

Yes, last spring.

4. What is one of your favorite galleries/museum/art spaces in SLC?

One right next to Red Rock that always has some really interesting pieces. I really like small galleries that have some very unusual things. And not that it will always work for my home or office or whatever but its part of art appreciation and really learning from art is seeing some of the really innovative and creative kind of funky sometimes not so successful projects. Somebody really expressing themselves in a creative way.

5. The Salt Lake City Arts Council is an important part of the Salt Lake City visual arts scene. What could be done to increase funding for this entity?

Well, I would say that I’ve already helped as much as we, well not as much as we can but helped substantially, but they are in that space rent-free. That has been a county commitment to have the art center be a tenant in a rent-free capacity. I think it’s a very important entity within the community. I like the focus on the contemporary. I think they do a great job. There has been some discussion about relocation although I have skepticism that they could ever find a more beautiful location.

6. Do you have any final thoughts about what the mayor’s office could do to better serve the visual arts community?

Well, the gallery stroll is incredible. I think, if you go to my website and look at my ideas on a creative economy as it relates to downtown Salt Lake, its very synergistic for my plan of downtown. You know there is a great new downtown development coming on board with retail and housing, we have to focus on our creative industries. That includes more galleries, fostering young people who are creative with technology and architectural firms, graphic artists, more galleries. I think that is all part of what will ultimately be the piece missing and is the success for down town Salt Lake. My plan really speaks to visual arts and I think it’s the more we can get in our downtown area primarily within the city the better. I am very influenced by the visual arts considering my mom has made a career out of being an artist and gallery owner. Married a guy whose mother is in the same camp, a very strong visual artist. We are clearly part of that community. I am on the board of the Museum of Fine Arts and proud of that and work hard on that one, in fact they have some great exhibits coming up. Really believe that the arts enrich learning, they enrich education of kids this age (son 4) and are really such an important element in the viability of our communities. I think the focus by the mayor in really creating a fostering environment where artists can flourish is going to be important. I want to see more arts back in the schools. It is really a challenge. The Museum has a great program Art in a Box that goes statewide, it’s a great thing but we really need to get a better understanding to the community that art is a priority.

15 Bytes

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.