{"id":88813,"date":"2024-12-03T09:24:12","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T16:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=88813"},"modified":"2024-12-04T14:52:59","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T21:52:59","slug":"tyler-alexanders-alma-gallery-opens-its-doors-to-diverse-art-in-provo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/tyler-alexanders-alma-gallery-opens-its-doors-to-diverse-art-in-provo\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyler Alexander’s Alma Gallery Opens Its Doors to Diverse Art in Provo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Close-up

Provo artist Tyler Alexander opened Alma Gallery on Provo’s Center Street in November.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A Weber State University art grad who lives in Provo with his wife and two young children, Tyler Alexander<\/a> has been working in the Utah County art world for several years\u2014as a studio assistant to both Kirk Richards and Colby Sanford, and most recently as a gallery assistant at Provo\u2019s Writ and Vision. When the latter shuttered earlier this year after a controversy involving founder Brad Kramer, and part-owner Esther Hi\u2019ilani Candari opted to rebrand and open a new space<\/a> called The Compass Gallery, Alexander couldn\u2019t let the Writ and Vision\u2019s space go. \u201cI couldn\u2019t see this space go to anyone else,\u201d he reflects. \u201cWrit and Vision \u2026 was the only place in Provo doing something interesting. When it closed, it left a void I felt I needed to fill.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n

Gone are the shelves of books that lined the street-facing space at the front of the gallery. In their place, Alexander has hung drywall, patched and painted, and turned the formerly cluttered space into a classic white-cube gallery\u2014though it\u2019s actually more of a long rectangle, similar to Salt Lake City\u2019s once-upon-a-time Kayo Gallery (for those who have been around for a bit.) Alma Gallery has a similar vibe: small, mostly unframed works, by artists of Alexander\u2019s generation, thirty-somethings, some established artists, others still finding their way.<\/h4>\n
\"nterior

Evening sun bathes the front of Alma Gallery in a warm glow, November 2024.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\"Close-up

The Tiny Art Show will host monthly exhibitions in a space at the rear of Alma Gallery.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Alexander wasn\u2019t planning on using the rear space\u2014formerly home to the \u201cvision\u201d part of Writ and Vision\u2014for shows, but the inaugural exhibition mushroomed in size and spilled into the back. It hasn\u2019t extended as far up as the back balcony, but you\u2019ll still want to venture up the stairs: McKay Lenker Bayer\u2019s Tiny Art Shows<\/a>, a project that began in 2016 and features meticulously curated miniature galleries, complete with scaled-down art pieces, labels, lighting, and even tiny refreshments during openings, has found a permanent home at Alma. They have a space upstairs, against the back wall, as well as by the front door. Alexander\u2019s long-term vision for the rear space is to create a multifaceted area designed to support artists designed to support artists, featuring a print shop for high-quality reproductions, a framing workshop for professional presentation, and a rentable studio space.<\/h4>\n

The name Alma<\/i> carries a familial resonance for Alexander. It\u2019s the name of his daughter, a nod to the inspiration he draws from his family, even as he balances the demands of running a gallery with raising his two young children. \u201cNaming it after her was a way of rooting the gallery in something personal,\u201d he shares with a wry smile. \u201cOf course, my older child, August, wasn\u2019t too thrilled. I had to explain why his name didn\u2019t make the cut.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Alma is a classic female name along the Mediterranean, but to those in the know it\u2019s also the name of a Book of Mormon prophet. Don\u2019t let that fool you. As much as Alexander loved the space he inherited from Writ and Vision, he wasn\u2019t interested in its largely LDS-bent. \u201cWhen I reached out to artists, one of the first questions I got was whether this would be a religious gallery,\u201d Alexander recalls. \u201cI made it clear from the start that Alma Gallery is a place for diverse perspectives and creative freedom.\u201d The gallery showcases a mix of emerging talent and established names, pulling mostly from Utah County. \u201cA lot of these artists had to go to Salt Lake or Park City to show their work,\u201d Alexander explains. \u201cI wanted to give them a home here in Provo\u2014a space that\u2019s just about the art.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
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\"Lower-level

The rear of Alma Gallery was used to hang part of the inaugural exhibition including, at left, two works by Colby Sandford, who will be the featured artist in December.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Interior

Stairs lead to a studio space on the second floor of the gallery.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Alexander\u2019s own work is mostly figurative in a style rooted in classical realism, with a strong sense of volume and three-dimensionality.<\/span> The compositions emphasize group dynamics and human interactions, capturing subtle gestures and expressions. As much as he enjoys his time in the studio, he said it could be overwhelming. \u201cThe pressure to constantly create and sell was crushing my creativity,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI realized I needed to find another way to contribute to the art world while preserving my own passion for making art.\u201d The stint working at Writ and Vision offered him invaluable insights into the business side of art. \u201cI learned a lot from Esther, being on this side of art and working with artists, and just the business side of it. It was fascinating and I really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n

He hopes to blend this professional experience with his own experiences as an artist, including the intimidating experience of sharing his work with curators and gallery owners. \u201cThe thing that was most frustrating was the silence afterwards\u2014What didn’t they like? What didn’t fit? And so I like seeing the proposals come in and looking at the work, and I’ve invited artists to come in and talk with me about their work, and I hope that I can offer something that’s constructive, that isn’t, you know, slam the door in their face.\u201d<\/h4>\n

The gallery plans to hold monthly exhibitions aligned with Provo\u2019s First Friday Art Stroll (6\u20139 PM), with regular hours Wednesday\u2013Friday, 4\u20138 PM, and Saturday, 12\u20138 PM. Alexander intends to focus on solo shows, which he feels better maintain quality and cohesion than group exhibitions. The December lineup features Learning from Giants<\/i>, a solo presentation by Colby Sanford exploring the artist\u2019s connection to life and painting, inspired by a journey to the Redwoods and a deeper understanding of color theory. Upstairs, Tiny Art Show will host Holy Ground<\/i> by Caitlin Connolly. Both artists have established reputations and promise to draw an eager audience. Alexander is optimistic about these inaugural shows, saying, \u201cMy hope is to create a new wave of collectors and patrons that recognize this is something different and want to support it.\u201d<\/h4>\n
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\"Exterior

Located on Provo’s Center Street, Alma Gallery receives a lot of foot traffic. In the bottom right of the image, notice the storefront for Tiny Art Show.<\/p><\/div>\n

Alma Gallery<\/a>, 274 W Center St. Provo.<\/p>\n

All images courtesy of the author.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Weber State University art grad who lives in Provo with his wife and two young children, Tyler Alexander has been working in the Utah County art world for several years\u2014as a studio assistant to both Kirk Richards and Colby Sanford, and most recently as a gallery assistant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88816,"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":[18,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gallery_spotlights","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/almaIMG_7668-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 09:06:07","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\/88813","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88813"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88828,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88813\/revisions\/88828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}