Awards in visual arts, film and literary have been announced for the 47th Utah Arts Festival. FEAR NO FILM Twelve awards were announced today in the 20th annual Fear No Film portion of the Utah Arts Festival, including a Grand Jury Prize, two Utah Short Film of The Year honors, Fearless Filmmaker Award, three honorable … Read more
URBAN ARTS The programming at the Urban Arts venue at the Utah Arts Festival focuses on fostering freedom of expression, independent identities and creativity but also to demonstrate the value and importance of respect, communal bonds and support within the community of urban and street visual artists and musicians. Since it became a part of … Read more
Devoncé (June 23, 7:35 p.m., Festival Stage) When Devan Kinnear (Devoncé) was younger, he thought that his entrance into the entertainment industry would be behind the scenes, such as directing and producing films. But, as Kinnear explains in an interview with The Utah Review. “music was a huge outlet for me because I did not … Read more
SKY OLSON AND THE VALLEY (June 25, 6:15 p.m., Amphitheater Stage) Sky Olson grew up in a musical household. His father, Kevin Olson is pianist, composer, and piano area coordinator at Utah State University, where he has taught courses in piano literature, pedagogy, accompanying and music theory. At the age of 12, his father composed … Read more
AMBITIOUS ROMEL (June 25, 4:30 p.m., The Round) Known by his performing name Ambitious Romel, which becomes an advantage when searching online for his music, Dejo’n Rothschild has built his brand around the dynamics of ambition, organically grown his critical mass as a creative entrepreneur. One of the Utah Arts Festival’s Emerging Artists, Rothschild (whose … Read more
ALAINA NOELLE (June 24, 12:45 p.m., The Round Stage) One of the Utah Arts Festival’s Emerging Artists, Alaina Noelle is a poet from Las Vegas who specializes in freestyle forms. She answered several questions from The Utah a review by email. TUR: What were your formative influences and introductions to poetry? Who were among your … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: In addition to this centerpiece feature about the Literary Arts program at the Utah Arts Festival, see features about this year’s poetry slam competitions at this link, and features about Utah Poet Laureate Lisa Bickmore and Heather Lang-Cassera who was Clark County, Nevada poet laureate from 2019-2021 at this link. Also follow The … Read more
Poetry slams have become one of the most popular offerings at the Utah Arts Festival, to the extent that the festival venue could launch its own regional competition. This year, the territory covered includes Utah, Arizona, California and Nevada. There will be three major slam competitions: The Youth Individual Slam, The Adult Individuals and the … Read more
There are many power hitters this year in the Utah Arts Festival’s Literary Arts lineup for the Wordfest Stage. Among them are Lisa Bickmore, Utah Poet Laureate, and Heather Lang-Cassera, who was Clark County, Nevada’s Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2021. Both participated in interviews with The Utah Review. LISA BICKMORE (June 23, 12:30 p.m. … Read more
Bala Thiagarajan (Booth 104, Arvada, Colorado) may be a newcomer to the Utah Arts Festival but her portfolio is extensive with awards, gallery and solo exhibitions, juried art fairs, self-published books, workshops, live demonstrations and art lectures. More than 800 of her original artworks are in collections in the U.S., India, Germany, Hong Kong, Mexico, … Read more