EDITOR’S NOTE: For preview coverage of the 50th Utah Arts Festival, which runs June 18-21, The Utah Review is presenting individual or group profiles of artists, performers, entertainers and some newcomers to the event. The curtain raiser highlights the history of the Festival which is marking its golden anniversary. BANDALOOP, among the most prominent pioneers of vertical dance, returns to UAF for the fourth time, having appeared in 2005. 2013 and 2018. Once again, the Oakland-based arts company will perform on the 240-foot-high curving glass façade of the City Library, as part of a June tour in four cities featuring a work with ecological roots that will resonate with collective concerns about the Great Salt Lake’s ecological crisis, as the dance artists perform FLOCK while integrating company repertoire pieces including Downstream and its new creation, life || lines, all with an original score featuring music by four composers. Salt Lake Acting Company will appear for the second time at the festival, offering a sample from its upcoming summer show, The Gaslight Zone. Make-and-take opportunities will be among the most extensive in history, with Make Salt Lake as well as Secondhand Salamander which is bringing back the classic Mad Hatter project, and, of course, the Kids’ Art Yard. Urban Arts is offering its largest live graffiti mural installation featuring eight artists in four Festival campus locations, while a row of several other artists will be demonstrating their creative process in real time. Holdman Studios, based in Lehi with an international portfolio of commissions to create stained glass in religious and civic buildings, including a recent update to the Utah State Capitol rotunda, is offering an unprecedented series of free workshops for participants to create their own stained glass artwork. The City Library auditorium will be the home to the 23rd edition of the international Fear No Film program, with 84 short films on a slate of 15 programs, the second largest in the event’s history. Of course, dance, who wears the empress jewels in performing arts, will be represented by Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Sock Opera Dance, and, of course, the ever-popular 1520 Arts, which will feature Trash Panda Drum Group and competitions featuring Sol Tribe as part of the Salt Open Styles Battle along with the Red Bull Dance Your Style battle and a collaboration with Utah Valley University’s ESPRIT in Rep Your Set Choreo Competition, with choreographers who specialize variously in hip hop, contemporary, salsa, reggaeton, afro, popping. Headliners this year include Digable Planets, well known among jazz musicians as well as hip hop artists (June 18); Yola, six-time Grammy-nominated artist, songwriter, and actor (June 19); Austin-based musician Alejandro Rose-Garcia, better known as Shakey Graves, who has been cited for creating new musical experiences tailored to each fan, ranging from Bandcamp-exclusive releases to hosting interactive scavenger hunts while on tour (June 20) and Rubblebucket, a band well known for its hybrid genre blend of psychedelia and electronic dance music (June 21). For tickets and more information, see the Utah Arts Festival website.
WIL ADAMS
From St. George, Utah, Wil Adams is inspired by the surrounding desert landscape and the visual language it creates. His work moves between two primary branches: the Desert Vibe Series, which explores imagined desert environments shaped by feeling and memory, and the Pareiglyphs Series, which explores the idea of discovering faces, figures, and hidden forms within natural structures such as rock and stone, then building them into layered, fractured compositions. Adams has regularly participated in regional art festivals throughout Utah and the surrounding area. He also has links at YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
TUR: How have you used art media forms in helping to create an holistic body of artistic work that searches for a more complete expression of your own innermost and most powerful states of emotion, inspiration, contemplation, and self-identity?
WA: Much of my work begins with imagination rather than direct observation. In my Desert Vibe Series, I use the desert as inspiration, but the scenes themselves are often created in my mind. They are not intended to be exact locations, but places that capture the feeling, mystery, and beauty I find in desert landscapes.
My Pareiglyphs Series comes from a fascination with finding faces, figures, and forms within natural objects such as rocks, cliffs, and weathered surfaces. I take those fragments and build them into larger compositions that blend imagination, fractured shapes, and influences of cubism into something recognizable yet open to interpretation.
A common thread throughout my work is the desire to create paintings that feel both familiar and intriguing. I want viewers to recognize something within the image that draws them in, while also leaving enough mystery that they pause, look longer, and begin asking their own questions. The most rewarding moments are often when a painting starts a conversation, not because it provides answers, but because different people discover different meanings within it.
My process is rarely rigid. Most paintings begin with a simple idea or rough sketch, but I allow the work to evolve as it develops. Often the finished painting looks quite different from the original concept. A shape, color, or unexpected mark may suggest a new direction, and I follow where that leads. I don’t force the painting to match the original idea, I let it reveal itself over time. Some of the most meaningful discoveries happen when the finished work becomes something I did not originally expect.
There are also moments when I step away and return to a painting over time, noticing things from a distance or in passing that I didn’t see while actively working. Living with a piece in the studio often reveals what it needs next.
TUR: What is your training as an artist? Who do you consider your most significant influences and inspirations? Do these influences shift as you progress both in your work and life?
WA: My training has been a mix of traditional learning and self-directed exploration. I didn’t come into art through a strictly linear academic path, so much of my development has come through observation, experimentation, photography, and the process of creating work itself.
My influences reach beyond the art world and are rooted in a lifetime of experiences. Having grown up during the 1970s and 1980s, I find that era still echoes through my work in subtle ways. There was a boldness, individuality, and sense of exploration that continues to resonate with me today. Although I have always considered myself creative, I did not truly think of myself as a painter until about six or seven years ago.
Photography also played an important role in shaping the way I see. Learning to recognize composition, light, balance, and perspective through a camera helped develop my ability to visualize images before they exist on a canvas.
One of my greatest influences was my mother. She viewed life with curiosity, imagination, and a willingness to explore ideas beyond the ordinary. Her interests in natural healing, astrology, spirituality, and metaphysical thinking encouraged me to see the world through a wider lens. Those influences remain deeply woven into my work today.
Artistically, I admire creators who invite viewers to look beyond the obvious. Norman Rockwell’s ability to tell a story through a single image has always inspired me. I am also drawn to Bev Doolittle’s work, where hidden images and layered meanings reward careful observation.
My influences continue to evolve as I move through life, but inspiration often comes from lived experience, intuition, dreams, and quiet moments that suggest the next painting. For me, creating is less about illustrating a fixed idea and more about discovery.
TUR: Do you work full-time exclusively as an artist? Or, how do you augment your work as an artist?
WA: In January 2025, I retired from massage therapy after more than thirty years in that profession. Throughout my life I had always considered myself creative, but painting gradually became more than an interest. It became something I felt drawn to pursue more fully.
Today, I work as a full-time artist, not because I have to, but because I want to. Retirement gave me the opportunity to shift my focus and dedicate my time and energy to creating work that feels meaningful and authentic to me.
I create the work I feel inspired to make rather than trying to fit into a category. My hope is that the work connects with people who are drawn to curiosity, imagination, and personal interpretation. In many ways, this feels less like retirement and more like the beginning of a new chapter.
TUR: Do you find it easy or difficult to start new work? And, typically, how do you prepare yourself to handle both the creative and physical demands of creating your art?
WA: Starting new work varies depending on the previous piece. After completing a large or demanding painting, I often need several days to decompress before moving forward. Ideas are never the challenge, I usually have more than I can use. The real process is deciding which direction to pursue next.
Smaller works allow for a quicker transition, often because I already have a sense of where I want to go. Larger works require more time and reflection, both at the beginning and throughout the process.
As a painting develops, there are moments when new possibilities begin to appear within the work itself. I may step back and observe it over time, allowing space for the painting to show what it needs. Other times I continue working through uncertainty, letting the process guide the next step rather than forcing a fixed outcome.
There are also moments when I need distance from the work. I’ll step away and return to it later, sometimes noticing things from across the room or in passing that I didn’t see while actively painting. That shift in perspective often reveals what the painting is asking for next.
When I need inspiration or direction, I may look at photographs, landscapes, or other visual references to spark ideas. The process is flexible and responsive rather than rigid.
One of the most rewarding parts of painting is that the finished work often evolves beyond the original sketch. A single mark or unexpected change can redirect the entire piece, and I allow space for that discovery to happen.
TUR: With regard to participating in the Utah Arts Festival, please share your feelings about being a part of this enterprise? Have you been in other festivals and do you plan to explore other festival venues?
WA: Being part of the Utah Arts Festival feels like an opportunity to share my work in a setting where art is actively experienced and engaged with. I currently live in St. George, Utah, and I’ve found that my work often resonates strongly in southern Utah, where the landscape and sense of place connect closely with the imagery in my paintings.
I regularly participate in art festivals throughout Utah and the surrounding region, including the St. George Art Festival, Kayenta Art Festival, and the Sedona Art Festival. Each of these environments offers a different audience and pace, and I’m interested in how the work shifts in meaning depending on where and how it’s seen. In many ways, the work feels like it continues the same conversation, even as the setting changes.
Showing work in a larger festival like this also feels like a chance to observe how it communicates outside of my usual environment and to understand what people connect with most directly. Those conversations and reactions are an important part of the process for me.
The Utah Arts Festival came highly recommended, which made me feel it was the right time to take part and submit my work. I’m honored to be included during its 50th anniversary year and look forward to being present for such a meaningful milestone event.