Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Dance’s major presence includes Children’s Dance Theatre, Repertory Dance Theatre, SALT Contemporary Dance, The Bboy Federation

Dance has a monumental presence at this year’s Utah Arts Festival. There are the daily performances of BANDALOOP, the phenomenal vertical dance company from Oakland, California; a June 22 performance of RUUDDANCES featuring Ballet West and Ballet West Academy performers who will present classic and contemporary ballet works including the festival’s dance commission by Peggy … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Grand preview of 42nd annual festival’s pop-up city of art, culture

In the 44 hours over the four days in which the 42nd Utah Arts Festival (June 21-24) will be open to the public, so many activities and performances will be available that only the savviest planner attending every minute of that time will be able, at best, to sample a respectable share of what each … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: At the Art and Technology venue, everyone becomes a maker

The objective at Make Salt Lake is simple. Even if there are no detailed plans to make something, there is no reason to be dissuaded from a project. For example, Make Salt Lake’s Beth Sallay, the coordinator for the Art and Technology venue at the Utah Arts Festival, is not a musician but she wanted … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: City Library, Festival match up as perfect partners

Recently, the administration and staff of the Salt Lake City Public Library met to clarify its strategic roadmap as part of its long-range efforts to continue developing the civic cultural campus that includes the City Library in the heart of downtown. As Peter Bromberg, library executive director, explains, it’s continuing the efforts started 20 years … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Urban Arts venue offers natural, complex harmonies, visually and musically

At the Urban Arts venue of The Utah Arts Festival (June 21-24), graffiti art, in its fully elaborated figurative and thematic forms, consistently is explored as the meaningful, liberated, provocative creative expression that is as relatable to the viewer as any other. This year, the venue’s artists and festival visitors will see graffiti art in … Read more

Salt Lake City Public Library’s Super Summer Challenge program, Strike A Chord, has recommendations, incentives for everyone, regardless of age

Libraries rock. That straightforward declaration is the guiding theme for summer reading and literacy programs in library branches across the country, as millions of families consider creative ways to combat the risk of the summer slide so that their children do not lose the learning momentum they achieved in the school year that just ended. … Read more

Spy Hop Productions cultivates indispensable community roots as it launches campaign for new home

Indispensability can be a challenging concept to articulate, especially for nonprofit arts institutions in communities where the arts are seen as an amenity rather than as an absolute necessity. But then there are those institutions which build upon their most successful and visible programs to cultivate deeper roots in their communities by offering activities and … Read more

Timeless values shape Salt Lake City Public Library’s celebrations of key historic milestones, new 21st century initiatives

There are three milestones this year for the Salt Lake City Public Library system. The City Library main branch marks its 15th year in its award-winning building, the system celebrates its 120th anniversary and the Chapman branch in the Poplar Grove neighborhood on the city’s west side, one of the last Carnegie libraries in Utah, … Read more

Utah Film Center to present 7th Tumbleweeds kids film festival March 2-4 at three SLC downtown venues

The seventh presentation of the Utah Film Center’s Tumbleweeds Film Festival for Children and Youth from March 2-4 promises to be the most ambitious for the Intermountain West region’s only children’s film festival. There are 15 feature-length films, 14 of which are receiving their Utah premieres. The slate represents 12 countries on four continents. There … Read more

Sundance 2018: Utah Film Center, Sundance Institute mark 5-year anniversary for Sundance Kids program

Two feature-length animation films – both stunning in their visualizations of classic stories and thematic interpretation – and a documentary about the trials and successes of competing in an international science fair comprise this year’s Kids section of the Sundance Film Festival. The 2018 edition of the Kids program is a five-year milestone for its … Read more