{"id":100304,"date":"2025-12-16T15:27:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T22:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=100304"},"modified":"2025-12-20T16:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T23:35:09","slug":"2025-sam-forlenzas-daily-dare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/2025-sam-forlenzas-daily-dare\/","title":{"rendered":"2025: Sam Forlenza&#8217;s Daily Dare"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_100305\" style=\"width: 1079px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-100305\" class=\"size-large wp-image-100305\" src=\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-1069x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1069\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-1069x1024.jpg 1069w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-350x335.jpg 350w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-768x736.jpg 768w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-1536x1472.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-2048x1962.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-1200x1150.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1069px) 100vw, 1069px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-100305\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sam Forlenza inside his Salt Lake City studio.<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>When Salt Lake City artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sam.forlenza\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sam Forlenza<\/a> decided\u2014almost accidentally\u2014that he would go to his Sugar House studio every day and post a new creation to Instagram each day, he describes it as \u201cthe brilliant, albeit na\u00efve idea\u201d that took hold simply because he was already there so often. \u201cOne day built on another and slowly I had been there a week and didn\u2019t stop for months.\u201d What began as an organic rhythm became what he jokingly calls a personal double-dare: \u201cCan I get to the Studio every day and post something every day? Extra points if I had a trifecta or hat trick (choose your sport)\u2014can I: (1) get to the Studio, (2) create something that day, and (3) post that day\u2019s creation on IG?\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>He gave himself \u201cpractical rules\u201d as he went along. Travel out of state meant he could miss the studio, though he still aimed to keep posting. He hadn\u2019t thought through what would happen if he lacked internet access, a detail that surfaced quickly when he and his husband found themselves in China in April. Before leaving, he had been warned he would almost certainly lose access to Instagram behind the Great Firewall. Instead, \u201cit turned out I could generally access Instagram, and the best \u2018reception\u2019 was inside Chinese Ubers. Who knew?\u201d The couple traveled through Beijing, Xian, Guilin, and Shanghai, where the Shanghai Art Museum offered him unexpected resonance: \u201cgalleries cram packed with amazing calligraphy which tugged at my heart strings and my long love of working in Black and White\u2014think Robert Motherwell and Franz Kline.\u201d In the M50 art district he met the international painter Lin Jin Chun, communicating through Google Translate and only afterward learning the artist\u2019s significance. Predictably, he bought a small print.<\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_100312\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_134422-1-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-100312\" class=\"wp-image-100312 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_134422-1-1200x675.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_134422-1-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_134422-1-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_134422-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_134422-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_134422-1-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-100312\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sam Forlenza (left) with Chinese artist Lin Jin Chun. Forlenza had plenty to distract him from his artistic goals in 2025.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-100304 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/2025-sam-forlenzas-daily-dare\/20250427_103435-2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_103435-1-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_103435-1-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_103435-1-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250427_103435-1-360x360.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/2025-sam-forlenzas-daily-dare\/img_20250419_203155_563-2\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2-360x360.jpg 360w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250419_203155_563-2.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/2025-sam-forlenzas-daily-dare\/img_20250425_162956_742\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"290\" height=\"290\" src=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742-290x290.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742-290x290.jpg 290w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742-120x120.jpg 120w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742-360x360.jpg 360w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_20250425_162956_742.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h4>In May, Forlenza traveled to Savannah for his great-nephew\u2019s graduation\u2014another legitimate break from the studio but not from the daily Instagram ritual. He visited the SCAD Museum, the Telfair, and several local studios, including Michelle Perez\u2019s, returning to Utah with one of her small cradleboard paintings. Soon he was back at his own studio and returning to the challenge. The daily visits were not always glamorous. \u201cSome days I went to my Studio and looked at my phone for way too long and as it got late I tried desperately to get something\u2014anything\u2014done.\u201d His psychologist\u2019s mind recognized the pattern: \u201coften the most productive and revealing times in a psychotherapy session are the last few minutes, as the client is walking out the door.\u201d Other days all he managed was housekeeping\u2014cleaning, organizing shelves, priming canvases. \u201cI decided that still counted as progress.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>The summer brought a new spark when he picked up a book on Picasso\u2019s cutouts and began experimenting with his own. He produced around fifteen of these silhouettes on black or gray paper, then challenged himself not to let them become \u201cPicasso copycats.\u201d The project led him into three new series\u2014Blossoms, Spring Garden, and Winter. The Winter works began on black-gessoed surfaces and referenced shifting weather conditions with titles like Squall, Wind, and Storm. He notes, partly amused, how much nature crept into his work: \u201cNow don\u2019t tell her, but I\u2019m not one of her biggest fans.\u201d After three decades in northern New Jersey, only minutes from Manhattan, he still describes himself as \u201ca city boy\u2026 perfectly content to spend hours inside a good art museum oblivious of what is going on outside. (Oh, there are mountains out there, who knew?)\u201d<\/h4>\n<div id=\"attachment_100306\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_111935.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-100306\" class=\"wp-image-100306 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_111935-350x471.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"471\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_111935-350x471.jpg 350w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_111935-761x1024.jpg 761w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_111935-768x1033.jpg 768w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_111935-1142x1536.jpg 1142w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_111935-1200x1614.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_111935.jpg 1403w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-100306\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sam Forlenza, &#8220;Winter,&#8221; 30&#215;40 in.<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>What surprised him most was how much harder the posting became than the making. \u201cPosting on IG every single day was a bigger hurdle than getting to the Studio every day.\u201d He counted even brief visits as valid\u2014arriving at 10 pm and staying fifteen minutes still met his criteria\u2014but Instagram demanded a constant stream of content. On desperate days he posted a humorous poem written years earlier (\u201cOde to a Toaster\u201d), or works from decades past. \u201cAccording to my rulebook this was my work and therefore still legitimate to post.\u201d Revisiting these long-stored pieces brought its own excitement. Pairing the images with music became a quiet pleasure; he often selected understated instrumental tracks, \u201clight or semi-classical.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>In the fall, he and his husband traveled to South Africa\u2014Johannesburg, Durban, a safari, and Cape Town. The trip was exhilarating but draining. \u201cTwo major trips in one year might have been one too many,\u201d he reflects. At the WITS Art Museum in Johannesburg, a docent guided them through a moving exhibition of Serge Alan Nitegeka\u2019s work. In Cape Town they stayed at the Cape Heritage Hotel, whose hallways were filled not with polite landscapes but with contemporary art and sculpture. They attended a reception for artist Simon Venter and timed their stay to coincide with the First Thursday Art Walk, where Forlenza bought a small fabric work by Davina de Beer at the nonprofit AVA gallery. The stimulation was tremendous, but in its wake he felt his rhythm fray. \u201cI suspect all the traveling, while extremely exciting and stimulating, helped to do me in.\u201d The daily challenge, once novel and energizing, grew heavy. \u201cThe excitement and wonder became dread. Less is more.\u201d<\/h4>\n<h4>Still, the tally at year\u2019s end astonished him. \u201cI posted close to 300 times during 121 days, I met so many interesting people, had fascinating conversations, and created dozens and dozens of new art works.\u201d The year, he says, may not have been a masterpiece, but it was unquestionably a personal success.<\/h4>\n<h4>As he looks ahead to 2026, the momentum continues: an accordion book will appear in the Bookarts Roundtable exhibition in New Jersey from January through April; he will perform his piece Time Piece at 12 Minute Max at the Salt Lake City Public Library in February; and in March a solo exhibition will open at the Anderson\u2013Foothill branch of the library.<\/h4>\n<h4>Forlenza ends his account not with a summary of achievements but with a distillation of what the year taught him\u2014ideas rooted in psychology and shaped by experience.<\/h4>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><b>Lessons and Observations:<\/b> Let me conclude, with fifteen observations. They incorporate ideas directly from psychology.<\/h4>\n<ol class=\"ol1\">\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Just show up. You get credit for just being there. Set a regular schedule, use a timer, or some other device or aid, if it helps.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Consistency, as we know, counts. Forming new habits takes time. Be kind and forgiving to yourself.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Doing anything is better than doing nothing. Lower your expectations. \u201cThe Perfect is the enemy of the good.\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Have a space devoted solely to your art (See No. 5).<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Block out all distractions.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>No screens, no calls, no refrigerator.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Relapses are part of the process; the road is not straight. Just because you don\u2019t know where you are going (creatively) doesn\u2019t mean you are lost.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Housekeeping counts. These mundane tasks helped to keep me focused on the creative process and kept me in the Studio.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Doing anything creative counts. Going to the art supply store (across the street) counts, or going to a gallery can be inspiring.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Do what works for you. This process may work for a time until another process becomes more useful. One size does not fit all.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>\u201cOvercoming or Joining with the Resistance.\u201d Stealing an idea from psychotherapy, sometimes I needed to do little or nothing. I needed to give myself permission to be stuck. I needed to go with or join the resistance. Make friends with it and be kind and nonjudgmental to it and of yourself. It will pass. See resistance as a normal part of creativity (and psychotherapy.)<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Having supportive friends (and maybe a good therapist) can help and validate you.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>\u201cApproximating desired behavior\u201d is worth noting. Another idea from psychology here. Taking the smallest step toward your desired behavior is helpful. If the goal is to paint a new canvas, any step toward that desired goal or behavior is helpful. Buying the canvas, bringing it to the Studio, placing it on the easel, placing your paints nearby, just sitting in front of the easel, the canvas\u2014all of this gets us closer to the desired behavior of CREATING.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Sometimes taking a break, going for a walk, or purposely doing ugly or trashy work is important. The latter has been described as \u201cembracing imperfection.\u201d (See no. 3.)<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Meet and speak to other artists whenever and wherever you can. Have a support system.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Continue to look at as much art as possible.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\">\n<h4>Acknowledge and celebrate all accomplishments.<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h4 class=\"p2\"><\/h4>\n<h4>\u201cIt has been an especially exciting and rewarding year,\u201d he says. \u201cI was extremely productive, feel very proud, learned a lot, and am incredibly grateful.\u201d<\/h4>\n<p>You can scroll through Sam Forlenza&#8217;s year in art at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/sam.forlenza\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">instagram.com\/sam.forlenza<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Salt Lake City artist Sam Forlenza decided\u2014almost accidentally\u2014that he would go to his Sugar House studio every day and post a new creation to Instagram each day, he describes it as \u201cthe brilliant, albeit na\u00efve idea\u201d that took hold simply because he was already there so often. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1602,"featured_media":100305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3164,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-of","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251215_102534-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 05:03:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1602"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100304"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100315,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100304\/revisions\/100315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}