Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2016: Art and Technology venue puts the ‘A’ into STEM

Late last year, it took only a few hours for a social media controversy to erupt that would force the Old Navy clothing company to pull a line of T-shirts and sweatshirts which featured the tag “Young Aspiring Artist” with the word “artist” crossed out and replaced with “astronaut” or “president”. The controversy brought a … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2016: Urban Arts highlights graffiti, fat caps, giant 100/One community mural

Each year at the Utah Arts Festival, visitors to the Urban Arts venue try to guess early on what Mason Fetzer’s 100 Artists / 1 image community mural project will be as artists start painting 100 tiles in the 20-foot installation piece. His strategy worked as visitors unsuccessfully guess what the final image would be. … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2016: City Library is hub of films, hands-on workshops, random performances

A tremendously diverse, logistically solid venue, the City Library will have perhaps its most extensive presence ever at this year’s Utah Arts Festival with the 40 in 117 exhibition featuring work from Utah artists representing the last 40 years from the state’s Alice collection established in 1899, numerous visual arts and musicians’ workshops, performances of … Read more

Celebrated Mexican chef Carlos Gaytán on tap for Artes de Mexico en Utah scholarship fundraising event

Carlos Gaytán, a pioneering Mexican chef whose Chicago restaurant has attracted global attention and praise, will come to Salt Lake City later this week to help raise scholarship money for Artes de Mexico en Utah in an event sponsored by the Consulate of Mexico in Salt Lake City. Gaytán will be preparing meals for private … Read more

Impressively enlightened conscience dominates latest round of PitchNic film premieres by Spy Hop students

The latest set of PitchNic short film premieres by students at Spy Hop Productions not only impressed an audience of nearly 500 at the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts but it also signaled that all four films are ready for submission to film festivals around the country. In fact, each of the films could … Read more

Spy Hop’s 13th annual PitchNic premiere signals young filmmakers’ creative, intellectual passions

Perseverance is one of Spy Hop Productions’ most cherished values and the students needed a bigger dose than normal to get the four films ready for this week’s 13th annual premiere of PitchNic Films. Dealing with illness and college responsibilities, constructing scenes to meet artistic challenges, dealing with shooting snafus and some equipment accidents, and … Read more

Utah Film Center’s Tumbleweeds festival marks its 5th anniversary with 16 film programs from around the world

Some of the most compelling examples of family-friendly films with engaging narratives and wholesome characters will highlight the Utah Film Center’s fifth Tumbleweeds Festival this coming weekend (Sept. 25-27). The Intermountain West’s only film festival exclusively for children, Tumbleweeds will include seven Utah and two North American premieres in its slate of 12 feature-length films and … Read more

Eat Local Utah Challenge Week coming up Sept. 12-19

Utah Eat Local Week

Beginning September 12, the state of Utah will kick off Eat Local Week as part of the Eat Local Challenge. The challenge is simple: eat as local as you can for one week. Eat Local Week is a statewide program that celebrates the regional harvest season by promoting local agriculture and food artisans, honoring the … Read more

Plan-B’s ‘Ruff!’ set to premiere at Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival

“Big as them and twice as smart.” In Jenifer Nii’s Ruff!, a short play (30 minutes) about two dogs in a shelter which is geared toward children in K-3, Axel and Buddy become friends, sharing experiences that offer plenty of lessons about bullying, identity, self-esteem and confidence, and the challenge of stepping forward without fear. … Read more

Making the most of their differences: Arcane’s trio of musicians in Spy Hop’s newest band

Whatever their differences in family, religion, school interests, or even musical tastes, three Utah teens have come together in an extraordinarily rewarding and productive way in Spy Hop Productions’ musicology program. The only students who have completed one of Spy Hop’s rigorous year-long programs in music and media arts, the three teens who comprise the … Read more