{"id":55956,"date":"2021-01-09T20:38:36","date_gmt":"2021-01-10T02:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=55956"},"modified":"2021-01-15T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T22:04:47","slug":"taylor-knuth-joins-the-salt-lake-city-arts-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/taylor-knuth-joins-the-salt-lake-city-arts-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Knuth Joins the Salt Lake City Arts Council"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a>

Taylor Knuth, photo by Cat Palmer<\/p><\/div>\n

Raised by a single mother in Clearfield, Taylor Knuth, new assistant director of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, says, \u201cArt saved my life, being a young gay kid in Utah.\u201d<\/h4>\n

When asked flat out what he wants people to know about him, he adds, \u201cWe should be creating places where everyone belongs. I want to challenge the status quo. I believe we should do things\u00a0with<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0by<\/em> the community and not to<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0for<\/em>\u00a0the community.\u201d<\/h4>\n

The Provo native is all of 28 years old and admittedly doesn\u2019t get much sleep. \u201cCOVID relief efforts take a lot of my time,\u201d he says. That and at least a dozen other volunteer programs \u2013 like the Ogden Diversity Commission, Ogden Civic Action Network \u2014 and several board positions he has been named to in the northern Utah city where he resides in a 130-year-old house (its ongoing renovation devours considerable time and treasure) with his husband of seven years, software analyst Sean Bishop. They share the space with Tedd the Good Dog and Tina the COVID Lap Cat (seems it was a bit lonely with just Tedd to come home to).<\/h4>\n

Knuth also took up skiing for the first time during the pandemic. \u201cI fell five times before I ever got to the chairlift,\u201d he says ruefully. \u201cI\u2019ve had two hip replacements. I hike a lot, though. And now I also ski and golf.\u201d<\/h4>\n

He hasn\u2019t let the grass grow career-wise, either and seems to have moved like clockwork into increasingly more responsible positions every couple of years: Marketing and Communications Manager for Salt Lake Acting Company, 2013-15; Education and Outreach Manager for the Browning Center at Weber State, 2015-16; Leadership Giving and Community Engagement Director, United Way of Northern Utah, 2016-18; Development Director for Onstage Ogden, 2018-19; Development Director II for Weber State University 2019 until taking the job with the Salt Lake City Arts Council (he started Jan. 4) where his primary duties will include working directly with several program managers to implement a new strategic plan in 2021 for the Arts Council focused on fostering cultural equity and social impact, strengthening organizational health and development, cultivating and building partnerships, and elevating the arts sector. He will support and uplift the Salt Lake City Arts Council\u2019s mission and vision through administrative support and engagement with the community, working with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

\u00a0Knuth also will administer the City Arts Grants Program. He says he hopes to increase awareness of social justice issues, to \u201ctranslate the arts as a social beacon for this sort of work. One thing I do know is that we are resilient, we can fight oppression.\u201d<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

He graduated from Clearfield High, and attended Weber State (as did Bishop). The pair spent some time in a Harlem loft above the Apollo Theater doing internships for Broadway producing companies. Both perform in \u201cmostly\u201d musical theater. Knuth says he came back from New York, \u201cbecause I thought I would be a star one day; until a wise professor said I should do arts administration. She had me do stage management. It turned out I was good at arts administration and I liked being in charge. So, I emphasized in stage management.<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

\u201cI moved to New York for performing arts and came back to be in management. And for the sense of community and the housing opportunity \u2014 which right now is the house we own in Ogden. Blood, sweat, and tears and a sense of community. And being a commuter isn\u2019t all that bad,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

Knuth is working on his doctorate at the University of Utah in Education, Culture and Society and anticipates course completion in the fall of 2022. He earned a master\u2019s in public arts administration from Southern Utah University in 2018. His bachelor\u2019s from WSU in musical theater and production management in 2014 was Summa Cum Laude. Most impressive to this writer? He types 85 wpm.<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

Knuth points out that the city\u2019s Department of Economic Development houses the Arts Council. \u201cI think that Salt Lake City is beginning to look at what economic recovery looks like and that arts and culture fits into the plan. It centers the arts in our day to day lives. People aren\u2019t moving to places that are boring. They are moving to places with nightlife and food \u2014 and art. In the next three to five years, Salt Lake City will be drawing people from Texas and California,\u201d he predicts.<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n

He adds that one of his theater professors said: \u201cIf you are doing art, who are you speaking to and why?\u201d Knuth says, \u201cIt\u2019s important to emphasize that we can have artistic experiences in a safe way even during a pandemic.\u201d This much passion after less than a week on the job offers perhaps the best sketch of the new man behind the assistant director\u2019s title.<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The current exhibit at Finch Lane Gallery<\/a>,\u00a0Andrea Jensen \/\/ Max Barnewitz & Joshua Graham, Jan. 15 \u2013 Feb. 26, 2021,is open to a total of 5 masked people (you and 4 others, or just to you alone) for 45 minutes by online appointment only.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raised by a single mother in Clearfield, Taylor Knuth, new assistant director of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, says, \u201cArt saved my life, being a young gay kid in Utah.\u201d When asked flat out what he wants people to know about him, he adds, \u201cWe should be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":844,"featured_media":55957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,14],"tags":[3858],"class_list":["post-55956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art_professional_spotlight","category-visual_arts","tag-taylor-knuth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/web-0661.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-15 20:12:46","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\/55956","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\/844"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55956"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55961,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55956\/revisions\/55961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}