Spotlight: Utah Arts Alliance
by KATIE BROOKS
In a climate teeming with divisive topics and polarization, can something as simple as the creative arts really bring people together? At least one nonprofit organization thinks so. The Utah Arts Alliance (UAA), headquartered in Salt Lake City, was founded with the mission to foster the arts in all forms in order to create an aware, empowered, and connected community.
UAA’s model directly benefits both the public and aspiring artists by helping artists create and then showcase their work to the community in several types of locations. One of these venues is called Urban Arts Gallery and is located 116 South Rio Grande, SLC Utah at The Gateway. Its hours and more information can be found here.
One feature of Urban Arts Gallery is the Connect events. On the second Friday of every month, UAA invites emerging artists to bring one or two pieces of their work to the gallery. Contributing artists and the public are invited to attend the gallery and vote for their favorite pieces. The top five are then kept on display at the gallery until the next Connect event. This year, UAA will host the Connect Gala. Here, a grant of $4,000 will be awarded to the artists who have received the most votes throughout the year.
Budding musicians, too, can find a friend in the UAA. Counterpoint Studios, a topnotch recording studio located in Salt Lake City, provides state-of-the-art recording services at nonprofit rates. Included are three different studios that host, among other things, a tracking and recording room, a mixing and mastering room, and a nine-foot Fazioli grand piano.
UAA has also found a way to unite the community through music: Bilingue Radio. Found on KUAA Radio 99.9FM, Bilingue Radio broadcasts classic and contemporary music from around the world. They also combine several languages from other countries with English in a news-broadcast format in an effort to both inform and connect immigrant and native communities in Utah.
Another way the public can benefit from UAA is through events. One, the Urban Arts Festival, is the largest free community art event in Utah and includes work from hundreds of artists, musicians, and other performers. This year, the festival will be held at the Gallivan Center on September 15th and 16th. The family-friendly event will include visual art, music, dancing, automotive arts, projection art, virtual reality, new-media arts, street basketball, fashion, live street art, mural displays, and more.
The Illuminate Salt Lake Festival, hosted on November 10th and 11th in The Gateway, is a free, two-day light-art and technology celebration. It features installations by more than 30 artists, live music and performances, kids’ activities, a kids’ short-film festival, interactive light-art demonstrations, virtual-reality arts displays, food trucks, and local brews and spirits, among other things. These events can inspire members of the community while promoting artists who are eager to share their talents.
UAA also partners with local programs that can provide training in dance, marital arts, music, and graphic design at low prices. UAA offers some sponsorships to artists to enable them to use studios, event spaces, and other services for subsidized prices or even no charge at all. But the sponsorships, events, and other services are made possible only through involved and generous advocates. To become a donor or volunteer, support the arts, and help put the “unity” in “community,” visit the UAA website, http://urbanartsgallery.org/.