Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2022: Lyrics Born, veteran Bay Area rapper, set as headliner for opening night on Amphitheater Stage

Decades from now, when music and culture historians revisit the pandemic to chronicle the impact of the global ground-stop on live performances and how artists managed such an unprecedented set of circumstances, Lyrics Born’s (LB) podcast Mobile Homies will be a valuable primary source about how hip hop and rap artists responded with new music … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2022: Using the lost wax technique, Ogden-based bronze sculptor Jon Morgan creates works representing stories with emotional undertones

Jon Morgan is among the 59 Utah artists of the 175 being featured in this year’s Artist Marketplace at the Utah Arts Festival. A largely self-taught sculptor who is based in Ogden, his essential mantra in his creative process is that “art should be beautiful, it should be interesting, but it should have a higher … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2022: The City Library, The Leonardo return as venues to accommodate expanding programs

This year’s Utah Arts Festival brings back two venues, which have been central in organizers’ efforts to expand events in various programs: The City Library and The Leonardo museum. It is an exceptional partnership for either a public library or a museum (which honors the multidisciplinary talents of the famous artist da Vinci) or a … Read more

With strong performances, Melissa Leilani Larson’s Mestiza, or Mixed, is outstanding season closer for Plan-B Theatre

After a long talk with Alex, her girlfriend, Lark seems she can barely stay afloat, wondering if she will ever find success as a filmmaker. She speaks to her absent Filipino father: “It makes sense, Dad. That you wanted to fit in. The westerns are all about this idea of finding a place to belong … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2022: Artist Marketplace returns to usual comprehensive spectrum with 175 participants

This year’s Artist Marketplace at the Utah Arts Festival will be back in full scale and the 175 artists selected for the four-day event reflect the same rigorous process that has produced significant depth in the creative spectrum represented in the visual artists. With a jury composed of experts and community members, led by coordinators … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2022: 50th Utah All-State High School Art Show traveling exhibition set for The Gallery at Library Square

A toilet that did not work turned out to be the unexpected inspiration for Sophie Santos when she created her digital painting, Solution 5: Oyster Mushrooms to Combat Oxidized Oil Spill. “I was actually stuck in the nastiest motel when I started working on Solution 5,” the Olympus High School student said in an email … 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

Riveting, excellent adult drama: Utah film The Whole Lot, by Overcranked Pictures, set to premiere at Philadelphia Independent Film Festival

The hard realities of the family drama circling the inheritance of a loved one’s estate rarely require a boost from a fictional license. It is more common than many families might care to admit just how sharp the drama and confrontation are when the time arrives for the executor of a parent’s last will and … Read more

A mixed Filipina filmmaker adrift about her identity in American society: Melissa Leilani Larson’s Mestiza, or Mixed, set for Plan-B Theatre premiere June 9-19

In Melissa Leilani Larson’s newest play Mestiza, Or Mixed, thirty-something Lark Timon is a struggling filmmaker hoping to make a big break with one of her six screenplays. Lark, who identifies as a mixed Filipino female, believes her script set in the American West is a sure bet. Lark describes her female protagonist as Reyna, … Read more

It’s all about connections: NOVA Chamber Music Series announces 2022-23 season

The word “connections” would be an ideal one-word summary for the 2022-23 season of the NOVA Chamber Music Series. As music directors, in programming the six Libby Gardner Hall concerts and the two Gallery Series concerts, the Fry Street Quartet has assembled an impressive lineup. The season includes world and Utah premieres and with the … Read more