In fact, it was the Salt Lake Art Center Guild’s involvement in 1983 that initiated what is now known as Gallery Stroll. The Guild chose surrounding galleries to participate in the “Gallery Crawl.” The “Old Salty” tourist train transported gallery goers around the city from exhibit to exhibit until the evening culminated at a “champagne breakfast” reception hosted by the Salt Lake Art Center. After Old Salty broke down in front of Phillips Gallery it became clear that buses would be necessary for future crawls. The Salt Lake Art Center hosted Gallery Crawls for two years, but not long after that the Salt Lake Gallery Association picked up Gallery Strolls as a monthly event.

It took ten years before non-profit galleries became a part of the association. In retrospect, it is apparent that banding together was key to bringing an agreeable balance to the visual arts community. In 1993 the Salt Lake Art Center joined the SLGA along with Art Access, Finch Lane Gallery and the Utah Arts Council’s Glendinning Gallery. Once the non-profits became involved, the SLGA really took off as a community-outreach organization, hosting a free Gallery Stroll once a month and developing a more educational mission statement:

“To provide an avenue for galleries and museums to strengthen the local visual arts market and to promote and foster increased public awareness of the wide variety of traditional and contemporary art available in Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake Gallery Association further seeks to develop a knowledgeable buying public through visual arts education and enhanced public awareness of arts and culture.”

Gallery Stroll is undoubtedly the most successful program created by the SLGA. This cultural event has increased in popularity to the point that it brings hundreds of art lovers downtown on the third Friday night of every month.

The SLGA has had several presidents in the past such as Dave Ericson, Bonnie Phillips, Ruth Lubbers and Judith Christensen. But it is Kent Rigby who has kept the association running for the past ten years. For many of those years he handled all the paperwork, advertising and correspondence. In the year 2000, Kent Rigby received the Mayor’s Award for his dedication to the visual arts.

In the past year or so, Rigby has received some significant help from a new executive committee actively involved in cultivating the visual arts. These committee members provided some welcome energy and fresh air to the association, attracting many new sponsors and members. Although many of the galleries and arts organizations have different goals and missions, the SLGA as a whole shares one mission: to develop a knowledgeable buying public through visual arts education and enhanced public awareness of arts and culture.

Selling fine art in Salt Lake City is a challenge and any gallery owner will tell you they don’t do it for the money. In fact, Dave Ericson who has been in the business for over 25 years says, “I can easily count on one hand the years my gallery has made more than $20,000. I can much more easily count the years I’ve made less than $5,000. And I’ve never taken home a salary.”

It is clear that art galleries as well as non-profit arts organizations love what they do and respect the artists they represent to continue in their chosen professions. To endure a struggling economy takes courage and a deep devotion. No matter how slow art sales may be in Utah, the SLGA will continue to hold quarterly meetings to discuss local arts issues; they’ll continue to educate the public through the remarkable work of talented Utah artists and they’ll continue to open their doors after hours for Gallery Stroll every month.