Here are 5 surprising things you’ll find at the Utah Arts Festival this weekend

People walking into Salt Lake City’s Library Square this weekend will be able to see aerialists and stilt walkers, contribute to a mural made by 100 artists, watch a wide array of short films, buy art objects from dozens of artists and hear work by musicians from Utah and much further away.

The 2024 Utah Arts Festival is running through Sunday, expected to attract some 50,000 visitors and fill the square with color, culture and creativity. Gates are open from noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; tickets are available at uaf.org.

Aimee Dunsmore, the festival’s executive director, said her coordinators received more than 600 applicants, and granted spots to 177 artists. She said 73 artists are local, while some come from far away — such as Seo Jungmin, a Korean musician and composer who plays the gayageum, a 25-string instrument.

The festival showcases nearly every art medium imaginable: Performances, graffiti, digital art, metalwork, wearable art, woodcraft and more. Each booth offers a unique product and process. Wandering among the booths, one might see ceramics by Indiana artist Adam Egenolf, glazed with crystallized minerals, or lamps made by Allyson Lundberg of Providence, Utah, from repurposed gumball machines.

A complete schedule of events, and a full list of artists, can be found on the free Utah Arts Festival app.

Here are some surprising events happening at this year’s festival:

Street theater is back

After a five-year hiatus, cirque-style performers from Salt Lake City company Voodoo Productions return to the arts festival. Attendees can watch aerial artists, stilt walkers and ballerinas display their gravity-defying abilities.

One performance against the backdrop of the Salt Lake City Library features a floating violinist. The musician climbs a sway pole — which swings precariously back and forth — with their instrument, then plays. Wearing a Marie Antoinette-style dress, the violinist’s notes sprinkle down on the ballerinas below.

Contribute to a mural project

Mason Fetzer invites patrons to join his artistic process in his project “100 artists/ONE image.” What starts as a hand-painted square eventually becomes a 20-foot-tall mural of Fetzer’s design.

“People of any age, ability, or background can come and get one of these squares,” Fetzer said. Patrons find a place on the grass and paint with colors that Fetzer mixes. Once all squares are complete, Fetzer will mount them on scaffolding he has set up near the festival’s southwest corner. The assembly, Fetzer said, is somewhat of a “performance piece,” as only he knows the final product.

Fetzer said his collaboration represents “coming together and community.” He adds, “We’re all part of it. It’s going to take all of us to create this image.”

The Great Salt Lake at the Art Yard

The festival’s Art Yard, the area designed for kids, was buzzing with activity Friday. Scattered around the area are are upcycled sculptures of animals that inhabit the Great Salt Lake. In the center, there is a small replica of Antelope Island. Kids are encouraged to paint and decorate both the island and the sculptures, fostering creativity while learning about Utah’s environment.

Kids can also join The Dear Pelican Project, an initiative aims to fold 10,000 origami American white pelicans in support of the species struggling with receding lake levels.

An hour, cut up into shorts

Inside the Library’s auditorium, away from the crowds, the Fear No Film Festival will screen hourlong sessions of short films. The films are created by student and professional filmmakers who submitted documentaries, animations or narratives, said Derek Mellus, the film festival’s coordinator.

One of the animated shorts is “Ninety-Five Senses,” directed by Utah filmmakers Jared and Jerusha Hess (the couple responsible for “Napoleon Dynamite”), which was nominated for an Academy Award. One of the live-action shorts, “The Masterpiece” by Alex Lora, won the Grand Jury Prize for short films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

At 10 p.m., the festival screens “midnight programs,” that are “a little wilder,” Mellus said, catering to a crowd drawn to horror or dark comedy.

Emerging artists show their works

The Utah Arts Festival supports up-and-coming Utah artists through its Emerging Artist Program. The six artists selected this year are: painter Shane Pooler, jewelry maker Samantha Anderson, painter Lyra Zoe Smith, wood carver Jose de Jesus Cuevas, sculptor Craig Crazier and ceramicist Shiya Zeng

One of last year’s emerging artists, jewelry maker Betty Q. Le, has her own booth at this year’s festival. “It was kind of a secret dream of mine that I didn’t know how to make happen,” Le said — and the Emerging Artist Program helped her make it real.

The program, she said, helped her with everything from tent set-up to providing a “safe space to come into [her]self.”

Le creates jewelry with metal and feathers sourced from farmers and licensed gamekeepers. Sorting the feathers alone takes her four to five months. She said feathers remind her of people because they are “multidimensional” and “unique.”

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