{"id":93096,"date":"2025-05-19T19:23:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T02:23:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=93096"},"modified":"2025-05-20T09:54:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T16:54:17","slug":"bright-walls-tight-budgets-art-blooms-even-as-funds-shrink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/bright-walls-tight-budgets-art-blooms-even-as-funds-shrink\/","title":{"rendered":"Bright Walls, Tight Budgets: Art Blooms Even as Funds Shrink"},"content":{"rendered":"
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5\/19 DESERET NEWS: One-of-a-kind stained-glass dome will top Utah\u2019s new Capitol building<\/strong><\/p>\n

The crown jewel of Utah\u2019s new North Capitol Building is a $1.6 million, one-of-a-kind stained-glass dome designed to take visitors\u2019 breath away even as it unites them in shared appreciation for the state\u2019s beauty.<\/p>\n

The custom-made vaulted ceiling will flood a multistory atrium with the diverse colors of the Utah landscapes it depicts once the expanded state office building, which will also house Utah\u2019s first state history museum, is opened to the public in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis stained glass laylight is a powerful reminder that Utah\u2019s strength lies in our shared roots and our commitment to building a brighter future together,\u201d Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a statement.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n

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5\/12 SLTRIB: Where are The Whale and The Claw? How two art installations captured the attention of Utahns.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are few structures that have captured the zeitgeist of Utah more than The Whale and The Claw. The one is hard to miss when you travel on I-15. The other developed a cult following after a particularly good winter. But what are they and where did they come from?<\/p>\n

The Whale<\/p>\n

At the roundabout intersection of 900 South and 1100 East in Salt Lake City rises a colorful statue of a\u00a0humpback whale breaching the surface.<\/u><\/p>\n

The whale is officially called \u201cOut of the Blue\u201d and is 23 feet high. Created by artist Stephen J. Kesler, it is part of the public art collection managed by the Salt Lake City Arts Council. The mural on the whale is considered a separate piece of art, \u201cPoint of Reference,\u201d and is by Michael M. Murdock.<\/p>\n

When it was installed in 2022, it wasn\u2019t without a bit of pushback. The roundabout had previously been decorated with garden gnomes, which some felt better reflected the neighborhood and that the giant whale was incongruous with the area.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n

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5\/12 DESERET NEWS: \u2018Keepers of people\u2019: Emmy-nominated Utahn\u2019s documentary highlights rural West through quilters<\/strong><\/p>\n

A documentary about rural quilters made by a filmmaker in Sanpete County is nominated for an Emmy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother was an avid quilter. I have memories of her sunroom crowded with piles of fabric, antique sewing machines and talk of her ongoing projects and quilting groups,\u201d director Carly Jakins said.<\/p>\n

She wanted to capture her grandmother\u2019s passion for the practice, but she died in 2023. So the idea for \u201cAmerican Seams\u201d was born as a way to explore her grandmother\u2019s legacy in her own life, Jakins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerican Seams\u201d features three quilters who live in the rural Intermountain West who each have different reasons for quilting. The film honors strong women through highlighting the mental and technical work of quilting all while creating an emotional experience for viewers.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n

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5\/9 DESERET NEWS:\u00a0 South Salt Lake City Hall turns into a giant painting as Mural Fest returns this weekend<\/strong>
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\nNot long after last year\u2019s Mural Fest wrapped up, South Salt Lake leaders found a slight problem with painting the back side of City Hall.<\/span><\/p>\n

DAAS, a Texas-based artist, painted the south side of the building in a colorful, abstract interpretation of the nature surrounding it. However, it ultimately left the rest of the exterior feeling barren.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time we\u2019d drive up and we\u2019d look at the front, we were like, \u2018Definitely, the back is happier,\u2019\u201d said Jody Engar, arts programming coordinator for South Salt Lake, with a chuckle.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n

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5\/9 SLTRIB: West Coast graffiti pioneer RISK has a new mural in Utah. Here\u2019s how you can see it and meet him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite Utah\u2019s fickle spring weather \u2014 through rain, wind, and a little bit of heat \u2014 Kelly Graval toiled away to bring the mundane South Salt Lake wall to life.<\/p>\n

Midweek, he\u2019s wearing an all black outfit, splattered in a kaleidoscope of paint colors that have also dripped onto his leather phone case. The bold and bright tones can be color matched to the previously plain wall he\u2019s painting at 340 West Andy Ave.<\/p>\n

In just two days, Graval, better known by his graffiti tag RISK, along with two helpers, Brian Graget and Nathan Barton, transformed the wall, which pops with hues of nearly every color imaginable.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n

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5\/6 SLTRIB: Utah arts groups just saw thousands in funding pulled by the feds. Here\u2019s what was cut.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A play for Utah students about coping with post-pandemic life. Free ballet performances for children with autism and their families. Teaching teens to produce, direct and shoot their own short films. And restaging the opera \u201cMadame Butterfly\u201d for modern audiences.<\/p>\n

Those are some of projects that Utah arts organizations had secured grant money for under the National Endowment for the Arts \u2014 grants that the federal agency rescinded on Friday.<\/p>\n

Nationwide,\u00a0hundreds of arts groups\u00a0received emails Friday, telling them that their grants would either be terminated or withdrawn. The notices arrived shortly after President Donald Trump proposed entirely eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts as part of his plan for next year\u2019s federal budget.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5\/19 DESERET NEWS: One-of-a-kind stained-glass dome will top Utah\u2019s new Capitol building The crown jewel of Utah\u2019s new North Capitol Building is a $1.6 million, one-of-a-kind stained-glass dome designed to take visitors\u2019 breath away even as it unites them in shared appreciation for the state\u2019s beauty. The custom-made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93105,"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":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mixed_media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-20-at-10.51.52-AM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-13 03:39:24","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\/93096","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93096"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93106,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93096\/revisions\/93106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}