On the Spot
Salt Lake's Jessica Weiss
Jessica Weiss holds a Bachelor's degree from BYU and a Master's degree from the University of Utah, both in Art History. She has worked at the BYU Museum of Art and at Sotheby's Auction House in London. A resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, Jessica currently works as the Associate Curator of Education and Art at the Springville Museum of Art and serves on the board of the Utah Art Education Association.
 Describe something you remember hanging on the wall in your home growing up:
 Growing up, we had my grandfather's paintings hanging all over the house. He was an amateur painter, and today I recognize the lack of refined skill in his work, yet each of his works holds a special memory for me. His paintings remind me of him and my childhood, and to this day he is one of the most important influences on my life as an art professional. He painted because he loved it, and he found beauty everywhere - I find that very inspiring.
What are you reading?
I just traded at the library Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro (which was lovely), for Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman (so excited to read!).
If you could choose someone to paint or sculpt your portrait (living or dead) who would it be?
If I was choosing a living artist, Burton Silverman seems the obvious choice. His works are always imbued with so much character and expression that I feel he truly conveys the personality of his subjects unlike any other. If I get to choose a deceased artist, it is really hard not to simply choose John Singer Sargent, because he makes all of his subjects look amazing.
Join the 15 Bytes Team
15 Bytes is having our annual staff-wide meeting on the evening of Tuesday, February 15th at the Rio Grande Building in Salt Lake City. If you are a photographer, writer, or filmmaker and have considered taking advantage of the 15 Bytes' forum to explore the arts, this meeting will be a great opportunity to see how we operate and in what ways you can get involved.
If you are interested in attending please email editor Shawn Rossiter at editor@artistsofutah.org
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15 Bytes: About Us
Our editorial contributors this edition
 Christine Baczek is a native of Utah, but she has lived and studied abroad since the
age of thirteen. She graduated with a BFA in photography from the University of Utah and
has exhibited and taught throughout the state. Currently she is the Collections
Photographer and Digital Media Producer for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
 Ehren E. Clark received his BA from the University of Utah and MA at
the University of Reading in England, both in art history. Ehren is a
Utah native and currently lives in Salt Lake where he is an adjunct
professor of art history at Westminster College.
 Jared Christensen grew up in North Ogden, Utah and finally moved to Salt Lake at the age of 18 to go to school. He is currently a junior at Westminster College pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Ats degree in photography. This semester he is working as an intern with Artists of Utah.
 Laura Durham, a Utah native with a BA in Art History from BYU, has worked for the Utah Arts Council as the Visual Arts Coordinator for the past six years and, recently, she has taken on the Traveling Exhibition Program as well. She served as Vice President of the Salt Lake Gallery Association from 2003 - 2006 and now serves as Program Director for the Salt Lake Gallery Stroll.
 Bill Fulton enjoys painting, photographing and being a
psychotherapist. He is delighted that the latter is fulfilling because
the rewards of the former two have been more psychic than fiscal.
 Carol Fulton got her degree in radio and television production a long time ago. She was born in Brazil and lived in many countries, being a Foreign Service officer brat. Now retired from the airline industry, she volunteers at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and dabbles in oil painting and found-object sculpture.
 Kelly Green, a Salt Lake native, first discovered photography when her parents gave her a point-n-shoot camera while traveling through Southern Utah. She was instantly hooked. She photographs in black and white and color film with 35mm and medium formats, dipping into the digital world for live music shots or 15 Bytes assignments.
 John Hughes is an award-winning artist and teacher who has been painting the landscape both in and out of the studio since 1983. He maintains a studio in Taylorsville and teaches students in private workshops and in a course at Salt Lake Community College.
 Melissa Hempel works for museums. Especially interested in visitor experience, she completed degrees in Museum Studies and the History of Art and Visual Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. A California native, Melissa is ready to explore the artistic community in Utah, and learn how to live in the snow. She currently works at UVU's Woodbury Art Museum.
 Gerry Johnson, was an engineer in a past life. A former film, now digital photographer, his work over the last 3 years has been "to capture the 'moments of beauty' that surround each of us in our daily lives, and present them to the viewer in a way that they can also experience the spirit of beauty."
 Shawn Rossiter, a native of Boston, grew up on the East Coast. He has degrees in English, French and Italian Literature. He dropped out of a Masters program in Contemporary Literature to pursue a career as an artist. He founded Artists of Utah in 2001 and is editor of its magazine, 15 Bytes.
 Kim Silcox, a native of San Francisco, is a full-time photographer and designer. She is currently working on What I Thought I Saw, a book project that challenges our perceptions of how we see people.
 Dale Thompson has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from The Evergreen State College. Her writing career includes work for a local theatre, journalism in Park City, and freelance contributions for various nonprofit organizations.
 Will Thompson is a local photographer who specializes in work that is textural, intimate, and speaks to the space in our subconscious that seeks peace and tranquility. His work has been shown in galleries ranging from SAANS and Kayo in Salt Lake to Duncan Littlecreek in Elko, Nevada, and is included in private collections from Seattle to South Carolina. His work ranges from portraiture to abstract fine art.
 Geoff Wichert has degrees in critical writing and creative nonfiction. He writes about art to settle the arguments going on in his head.
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