The Utah Arts Festival puts up numbers: Three days, six performance stages, more than 170 artists, 200 performances, and an expected 70,000 attendees this weekend at Salt Lake City’s Library Square and Washington Square.
The event — which organizers call the “largest multi-disciplinary outdoor event in Utah” — kicked off Friday, with art experiences divided into six categories: Sounds, views, fresh vibes, eats, word fest and the kids fest.
Many will attend the festival, running through Sunday, to hear such music headliners as indie-rock band The Greeting Committee, country-folk performer Adeem the Artist, rapper Lyrics Born, funk-soul act Joslyn and the Sweet Compression and pop bassist Karina Rykman.
Each performance, artist and creator has a story that they aim to share through their work. Here are five of them:
Nzalamba Art Works
Cousins Paul Nzalamba and Lungala Rubadiri, who make up Nzalamba Art Works, are from Uganda and live in Los Angeles. They combine their art expertise in storytelling and the fabric-dyeing process batik.
The paintings Nzalamba creates are full of color and shapes. Each color is dyed into the fabric one by one, Rubadiri said, which means one painting can take up to nine months to make.
“He has a theme that he wants to put in artwork, I am the person who kind of chooses how [the story] will unfold,” Rubadiri said. The paintings come with a card to explain the stories, which are steeped in the cousins’ culture and homes. (Nzalamba’s family was based in Rwanda, Rubadiri’s in Malawi.)
Rubadiri pointed to one large painting, “The Market,” that features shades of orange, yellow, tan and brown, with hints of red.
“This large piece has a lot of people in it, and they’re in the market such as we are today. But there’s a clue in this picture, which is this little branch in the middle,” he explained. “What it means is that in life, whenever we share space with others, we are slowly becoming branches of the same fabric.”
This is the fourth time Rubadiri has participated in the Utah Arts Festival. Though each unique painting tells its own story, he said the themes are universal to all people, because they each connect to humanity.
Favorite work on sale: “And The Sun Came,” three figures reaching toward a distant sun, and “The Drums,” with a figure sitting behind a large group of drums.
Alan Potter Ceramics
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Raku-fired pottery artist Allan Potter of Hereford Arizona talks about his work at the Utah Arts Festival on Friday, June 23, 2023.
The works of Alan Potter Ceramics each have character to them, in the creative process and in the final product. Potter — who is from Hereford, Arizona, and making his first appearance at the Utah Arts Festival — uses the raku-fired technique, which originated in Japan. The figures include giraffes with teeth to yetis with big feet and toes.
“Raku is basically an hour and a half firing, then you pull them out of the kiln while they’re still very hot,” he said. Then, he drops the pieces, still hot, into trash cans full of sawdust, “which creates the reduction of oxygen, which turns the unglazed portions of the clay black and gives the clays either the crackle effect or the like real metallicky kind of iridescent looks,” he said.
Raku, Potter said, is more functional than other ceramics because it’s so quick.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Raku-fired work by Allan Potter of Hereford Arizona at the Utah Arts Festival on Friday, June 23, 2023.
He makes pieces to order, and some of those can get personal. For example, he has had clients sent hair from their dead horses, so he can include it in a sculpture of a horse.
Potter’s first creation, he said, was a giraffe — a gift for his wife. That was 23 years ago.
“Each piece is individually handmade, and kind of has its own history and journey in the firing,” he said. “I leave it up to the viewer or the collector to create their own storyline.”
Favorite work on sale: Big-footed yetis, in various colors, holding flowers or a balloon.
Astra Statera Art
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mixed media art work by Marissa Jager of Ogden at the Utah Arts Festival on Friday, June 23, 2023.
Marissa Jager, the person behind Astra Statera Art, is originally from Kansas, but now lives in Ogden. She makes mixed-media pieces, which she partly credited to being a “dabbler” all her life.
“For years, I did paint pouring, and then I did metal leafing,” Jager said. “And one day I was, like, ‘I wonder what would happen if I put a metal leaf mountain scene on top of one of my paint pours,’ which is actually when I invented my sunset swirl.”
Her otherworldly creations now capture some of Utah’s most iconic outdoor scenes — including mountain ranges and Delicate Arch. Jager also uses resin. The results are beautiful mosaics, juxtaposing deep blues, dark purples and magenta pinks with gold, silver and copper foils.
“Astra,” Jager said, is Latin for “stars,” and “statera” means “balance.”
Jager became an artist full-time during the COVID-19 pandemic, deciding to put 100% of herself into her art when she was unhappy at her old job.
“The world can be a little dark at times, so my story and mission is to bring more light to the world,” she said.
Favorite work on sale: “Sacred Geometric Desert,” a long piece with foil geometric shapes and a mandala.
Debbi Sigg Fine Art
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Debbi Sigg of Layton talks about her hand painted silk scarves at the Utah Arts Festival on Friday, June 23, 2023.
Debbi Sigg, the Layton-based artist of Debbi Sigg Fine Art, makes hand-painted silk scarves — in lengths ranging from 20 to 90 inches. The colors are fascinating, but her process really makes them stand out.
“I stretch [the scarf] onto a frame, which I build, and I sketch into it my design with water-soluble pencil,” she said. “Then I’m using a water-based resist that I can add my dye to.” (A resist is a substance applied to silk to prevent dye from reaching parts of the fabric.)
Sigg goes over every line of her sketch with the resist, and then applies an acid-based dye she buys from France. The sketches revolve around floral and mushroom designs, though she has a few abstract ones. The smaller neck and hair scarves have more modern designs, she said, because college students buy them.
Though each one is unique, Sigg said she doesn’t have much of a story she is trying to share with her art. She just loves creating it.
Favorite work on sale: The “How colorful is your garden” scarf, a white scarf with flowers in blue, yellow, orange, pink, purple and white.
Sharp Metals
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People look at the work of metal artist Eugene Perry, at the Utah Arts Festival on Friday, June 23, 2023.
The works Orlando, Florida, sculptor Eugene Perry makes under the name Sharp Metals are grand — both in size and material: Stainless steel, brass and other metals.
Each work has a different finish, and all are formed with graceful lines.
Perry said he has no formal art training. He was a certified welder, he said, but he got bored with it. During breaks, he would play with scrap metal — which led to his sculptures, which he’s been making for 15 years.
Perry had a showcase at the Park City Art Festival that went pretty well, he said, so he decided to apply for the Utah Arts Festival.
“My work, I keep it simple. I don’t really get into a story behind it. I want people to enjoy what it is,” he said. “What I do keep in mind when I create is just simplicity ... and it has to be striking.”
Favorite work on sale: “On Your Toes,” in which stainless steel curves hold a red metallic ball.
