Growing up, Virginia native Zach Harvey always appreciated art. Although he wasn't as skilled with a paintbrush as his older brother, this didn't stop him from promoting his brother's paintings. After joining the Air National Guard, Harvey ended up in Las Vegas. There, he met Dana Anderson and Phillip Limon, founders of the art agency, Industry Supporting Industry (ISI). Together, they opened up an ISI chapter in Salt Lake City, giving Harvey a chance to shine a much-needed light on the area's alternative art scene.
What kind of art does ISI showcase?
We have all sorts of artists. We have sculptors, bone carvers, wood burners, aerosol artists ... we have Heather Olson [who] does oil paintings, the fine-arts type of art. We're trying to pull in everybody that just wants to show off what they can do. A lot of artists have galleries and stuff like that, but they're not really in the public eye.
Who does ISI appeal to?
There's always going to be an underground vibe to what we do. It's going to be grungy—more edgy—we don't want to cater to snobs. We would rather cater to people who appreciate it, than to people who don't. The art scene can be so pretentious, but I never looked at it in that way. There's no room for that. Like, if you look at a punk rock show and a symphony, we're the punk rock show.
What kind of charity work has ISI done?
We've worked with Huntsman Cancer Institute and the Rape Recovery Center. We had live paintings, and they auctioned the work off. Charities are super important, because you can go on Instagram and buy as many followers as you want, but if you're not doing anything for the community, you might as well just stop.
What do artists really love about your shows?
They're all themes that we choose. Like this next show, [Jan. 19] is going to be a Tim Burton theme. We have artists who would never paint anything Tim Burton-related, but what they love about it is, it pushes them to go outside of their comfort zone. They appreciate the art that gets made that would've never got made in the first place.
What do you hope ISI does for Salt Lake City?
This city is so cool. It just needs to have more art. People just need to change their view on it. Let's make the city beautiful. What I really want to do is get a contract with Gateway, and then we could have artists paint all the walls seasonally. So every season, you're looking at a different piece. That's the kind of stuff I want to do to this city.
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