When Jeff Lambson first arrived in Utah in 2007 to become the first curator of contemporary art at Brigham Young University’s Museum of Art, it felt like a moment. Contemporary art in the state was gaining momentum, and institutions that had not always been in conversation with one […]
For all its cranes, new apartments, and redevelopment buzz, the Granary District has always been a place of odds and ends: empty lots the size of moonscapes, century-old warehouses slouching against cinderblock additions, and industrial streets that still bear the ghosts of rail lines. It’s a neighborhood defined […]
To be sure, some parts of the job of making art can be challenging. But there is much to admire and covet in the life of an artist. You get to largely invent yourself and have the freedom to choose your work each day. And where most bosses […]
For an exhibition of Christian art, there are surprisingly few images of the main character. The first painting you encounter in Earthbound and Heavenward is Herbert Schmalz’s “The Return from Calvary”—a large, theatrically lit academic canvas that anchors the exhibition’s entrance. It depicts a group of four women […]
The April offerings at downtown Provo’s Compass Gallery represent well their mission of celebrating symbolism, storytelling, and spirituality. With three one-person shows and a group exhibition all together in the space, the art covers the gamut of spiritual and symbolic representations. In The Greatest Act of Love, numerous […]
When I invited Lauren Wightman to collaborate with me on Mine we were both in the process of letting things die inside of us. I was deep in the throes of heartbreak after ending a long-term partnership and Lauren had just had a chronic illness flare up that […]
The late folk singer and labor activist Utah Phillips liked to quote his crony Idaho Blackie, who claimed that voting couldn’t change anything, as evidence for which he claimed that if it could, it would be illegal. What neither man could have anticipated was the extensive contrary evidence […]
You don’t pay taxes on unfinished homes. That may not be the only reason so many houses in the community of Colorado City-Hildale went unfinished, but it is what first drew Jim Mangan to the place. Known for his work across the American West—particularly in Utah and Colorado, […]
Those who follow Utah’s legislative sessions will have noticed the passage last month of SB 193, a bill that would make Good Friday—or at least four hours of it—a state holiday beginning in 2027. Those in certain social media circles will also have heard the clamor surrounding the […]
For centuries, an essential division of labor ruled over humanity’s closest animal companions. There were those humans kept for work alone: farm animals, useful creatures, those we domesticated but didn’t exactly tame. Those we ate. And then there were the dogs, which still had assigned labors, such as […]
In the three years since opening Salt Lake Pottery Studio, Madison Maria has seen her life change as quickly as her business. “I was engaged when I opened, married, divorced last year,” she says, describing a period marked by “constant change, with life and business and the economy.” […]
As the water of the Great Salt Lake disappears, exposing an arsenic-filled lakebed, the once straightforward name “Salt Lake City” has become an emblem of lives that are vulnerable as the landscape shifts, and what we could lose if we don’t take action. The lake has shaped life […]
Josanne Glass and Paul Vincent Bernard’s works are nestled among each other on the walls of Phillips Gallery this month, bringing out their best qualities through contrast. Bernard’s anxious, restless line moves between attentive examinations of the landscape and, at times, darker glimpses of a world under strain, […]
Kara Komarnitsky met with Molly Heller and Jorge Rojas after the opening of their co-curated gallery, Grief Work. They talked about the emotional experience of the opening reception, the vulnerability of the curation process, and the joys of being in community when surrounded by grief. Kara Komarnitsky What […]
Construction is underway on the Larry H. & Gail Miller Arts Center, a new regional venue set to expand arts access in Salt Lake County’s southwest valley. A March 19 groundbreaking in Downtown Daybreak brought together civic leaders, arts advocates, and community members to mark the start of […]
Cedar City was always an improbable place. If it hadn’t been for the iron ore deposits in the hills nearby—deposits that Brigham Young wanted to exploit for the fledgling Utah Territory—Mormon settlers might never have come to this particular stretch of the high desert at all. As recent […]
This month, David Ericson Fine Art once again presents two artists whose differing styles highlight the breadth of contrast encompassed by today’s art. While a former professor like me wants to see this as a teaching opportunity, Dave Ericson insists that the arrangement is practical. Alternating the still-life […]
Anyone paying attention to news from the world of art, or for that matter, anyone seeking to avoid news of our nation’s reckless and self-destructive adventures on the world’s stage, may have heard about the revelation that Banksy, surely the most popular artist of our time, is primarily […]
Light is doing a lot of work in Gwen Davis-Barrios‘ exhibit at Border and Square. And it’s not the flattering kind. Headlights, streetlamps, the ambient glow of a building—her scenes are lit the way the world is at certain hours. Partial light. Temporary light. The kind that picks […]
Stewart Seidman creates expressive acrylic works on canvas and with recycled FedEx envelopes that once served as his paint palettes, transforming everyday materials into compelling contemporary art.
To discover more artists, visit our Utah Artists Directory
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