Utah Arts Festival "Festival Vibes"
Everyone can point to events they'll be missing this summer as the result of pandemic-related cancellations, but among the most disappointing was the loss of the annual Utah Arts Festival for 2020. While it won't be possible to browse artist booths, listen to local music and enjoy the other artistic programs live and in person, UAF doesn't want a June to go by without the community feeling that connection to the local arts scene.
"Festival Vibes" is a virtual program that will be hosted at UAF.org every Friday through the month of June, beginning June 4. The virtual Artist Marketplace provides an online gallery of work from the visual artists and craftspeople selected by festival organizers, including an opportunity to make purchases. In collaboration with KRCL, interviews and music by selected artists will run during each Friday's Midday Show. A wide range of curated international short films come to viewers via the online Fear No Film program, while the Literary Arts program features poetry readings and live workshops. There's even a virtual version of the Children's Art Yard, with craft projects for kids.
More programs in other areas are still to come, along with festival merchandise to help support the UAF mission. "The artistic coordinators have worked tirelessly since last October to develop their programs, artists were selected and contracts sent out when we had to make the decision not to hold the Festival this June," UAF executive director Lisa Sewell said in a press release. "We were determined to find a way to honor the work of our coordinators and support the artists." (Scott Renshaw)
Park City Film "Made in Utah" filmmaker showcase
Quarantine has people watching plenty of streaming content, but it's still possible to think local while doing so. This week, Park City Film hosts a "Made In Utah" filmmaker showcase, including two short films by local directors—one a documentary, and one a fake-umentary.
El Desierto (pictured), by Jared & Carly Jakens, chronicles the seasonal transition of sheep herding into areas where water can be found. With a focus on one herd's migrant worker caretaker, Francisco Llerena, the film captures the lonely work of watching the sheep in the middle of nowhere, as radio news provides reminders of ongoing drought. Almost entirely dialogue-free, the impressionistic narrative gets a boost from the wonderfully restrained score by Jonny Stallings.
Director Drew Neff's Cuffs—created through Park City High School's film program—introduces the inept police force charged with serving and protecting the mountain community of Krime County. Shot documentary-style in the spirit of Reno 911! and The Office, the story follows several officers as they're observed by a state inspector (CoCo Berwald) trying to determine if they're competent enough to continue getting funding. Neff delivers an entertaining spin on a familiar set-up, with an appealing cast providing energy to scenarios like a "scared straight" confrontation between a teen vandal and an overzealous actor pretending to be a convict, and a traffic stop of a driver who clearly—to everyone but the officer—has been doing more than speeding.
Both films are available through June 8 via ParkCityFilm.org. Curator Jill Orschel will facilitate a Q&A with both films' directors June 4, 6 p.m., free with registration required. (SR)
Utah Pride Virtual Spectacular
It became a viral sensation when conservative gadfly Tomi Lahren snarkily tweeted about whether liberals would complain about the cancellation of Pride Month parades due to the pandemic, and was instantly smacked down with a history lesson about how Pride parades had already been cancelled, because LGBTQ people understood the realities of a deadly virus, and a government that didn't act quickly enough to address it. So while the LGBTQ community and its allies will miss not having a live parade or festival to celebrate love and life this year, the celebrations of Pride Month that do take place will be showing a respect for that history in promoting safety and public health.
Accordingly, Utah Pride Center has moved its annual Pride Gala online. On Friday, June 5, from 5:30-7:30 p.m., you can join the virtual gala live from anywhere, for a night of entertainment (yet to be announced at press time) and support for the local LGBTQ community. For the first time, the Gala will also be offered free to all who are interested after registering online at UtahPrideCenter.org/spectacular. Those who are able to make a larger donation in support of the Pride Center's programs are of course encouraged to do so.
If you're looking for another way this week to support Pride Center activities, register online for the silent auction that launched May 27 and will be continuing through the end of the gala on June 5. It doesn't require public events for you to fly your colors and show that the spirit of Pride Month exists somewhere besides a parade route. (SR)
The Beehive Live
Storytelling is a huge part of what defines us as human beings; we make sense of the world by creating narratives out of our experiences, and sharing those narratives with others. At this moment, the ways in which we can share those stories are more limited, but we also need to share them perhaps more than ever.
The Beehive—a local resource for podcasts, live events and more devoted to such storytelling—has increased its output during the coronavirus pandemic, including a now-weekly The Beehive Live vlog dedicated to local news. While early episodes were, understandably, devoted largely to coronavirus-related stories, "coronavirus wasn't the headline every day, and people were getting tired of it, honestly," says The Beehive editor-in-chief Meg Walter, who co-hosts The Beehive Live with Clint Betts. "We found ourselves more interested in talking politics, doing deeper dives into other things. ... There's not really a singular place where people can get their local news."
The result might range from exploring the Utah gubernatorial race to discussing the "patriotic" art work of local conservative painter Jon McNaughton. Walter recognizes that there are particular challenges in this time of knowing what topics to cover while so much attention remains focused on the pandemic, as well as the technical challenges of podcasting from home. But she believes that there's a definite value in creating content that people can share at a time when they might feel isolated. "It's nice to find camaraderie with people you don't actually know, but whose voices you listen to," Walter says. "People are just looking for company, and podcasts are a way to offer that." (SR)