Three downtown Salt Lake City scenes for a holiday season

As a downtown Salt Lake City resident, there are three holiday scenes this year that stand out to me for resilience of faith, the tradition of Santa Claus and an impressive depth and breadth of elegant seasonal decoration. La Morena: The Virgin of the Park, Taufer Park, 700 South 300 East On Dec. 12, which … Read more

Outdoor Retailer 2023: Fine examples of ingenuity, science, lifestyle creativity, bootstrapping, cultural integrity, authentic eco-consciousness in show’s return to SLC

This month’s just concluded Outdoor Retailer show, marking the event’s return to Salt Lake City after five years, highlighted a good representation of creative entrepreneurship and collaborations. Even for those who might not be avid outdoor recreation participants, there were plenty of ingenious, artful, elegant product lines and innovations, which suggest that the tent of … Read more

Four Utah Museum of Contemporary Art exhibitions cover range of expressions on cultural identities, community, isolation, racism, social practices

Four current exhibitions at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art comprise a broad segment of expressions about cultural identities, community, isolation, racism and social practices. Each of these are discussed below. The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) also received two grants totaling $140,000 from The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts and VIA Art … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2022: 46th Utah Arts Festival set to return at full strength, fresh with innovative examples of creative expression

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review begins its preview coverage today of the 46th Utah Arts Festival, which will be held June 23-26 (noon to 11 p.m. on June 23-25 and noon to 9 p.m. on June 26) on the Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City. As this is the state’s largest multidisciplinary arts and … Read more

Salt Lake City’s golden age of street art in murals acknowledged by Utah Museum of Fine Arts, new downtown complexes, Visit Salt Lake tour opportunity

No doubt, Salt Lake City is in the midst of a golden age flourishing in an astounding network of murals. Street art and public art traditions have found their way into exhibitions at two of the city’s foremost museums, including the newest show at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Murals with Utah community themes … Read more

Utah Arts Festival 2021: Slimmer, shorter but still state’s most comprehensive arts and cultural celebration of the year

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review begins its preview coverage today of the 45th Utah Arts Festival, which will be held Aug. 27-29 (noon to 11 p.m. on Aug. 27 and 28 and noon to 9 p.m. on Aug. 29) on the Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City. As this is the state’s largest multidisciplinary … Read more

7th Great Salt Lake Fringe brings record 52 shows with live performances at The Gateway, virtual shows, running July 29-Aug. 8

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review will present reviews of nine Great Salt Lake Fringe shows in a two-part series on Aug. 2-3. In a recent Facebook post, Utah playwright Morag Shepherd, who has participated several times in the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, wrote, “For those who do not have the luxury or privilege to … Read more

Utah filmmaking team set to premiere YouTube Originals documentary World Debut: From Outsiders to the Olympics 16 days before beginning of Tokyo Games

In a recent South China Morning Post article focusing on the Olympics’ less-than-enthusiastic appeal for younger audiences, Jack Lau cited statistics from the Ad Age trade publication indicating that the median age of American viewers for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro was 52.4 years. To cite Lau, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sees … Read more

Sundance 2021: Utah film industry weathers pandemic with resilience, resourceful risk taking

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Part I is an overview of the Utah film industry in the current moment. Part II (tomorrow) will offer a summary preview of the Sundance 2021 feature-length and short films, which The Utah Review will cover. In several hopeful signs, given its size, Utah’s film industry has weathered the pandemic with enough resilience … Read more

Utah Film Center sets livestream event of Motherload documentary celebrating mothers, cargo bikes, cycling culture; talkback featuring Bike Utah, Bicycle Collective

If there is at least one good metric coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s the trend of bicycle trips. BikeUtah.org, citing data from the Utah Department of Transportation and Strava Metro, reported that the number of bicycle trips in April more than doubled those in March in the state. While the data represents a … Read more