Art in the Utah mountains 

• Claire Sipos

Lee Mingwei: The Gifts of Connection @ Park City Kimball Art Center
While art in general is about connecting people to the experiences of others, that doesn't always take on as concrete a form as it does in the work of Lee Mingwei. The Gifts of Connection showcases three different interactive installations by Lee, each one focused on the idea of encouraging direct interaction with strangers to learn about their experience.

The Mending Project, launched in 2009, invites visitors to bring a damaged textile project that will be repaired by a mender at a table. The process encourages conversation between the visitor and the mender, about the significance of the item in need of repair, and simultaneously promotes the creation of something entirely new, as the mending process is meant to leave evidence of the repair. The Tourist documents Lee's experience as a guest in several cities around the world—including Park City, which has been added for this installation—following a tour guide who shared a unique, individual perspective on their home city based on locations significant to them. In The Living Room, one of the Kimball gallery spaces becomes a living room, to which a local host has brought objects of personal significance. The hosts are then available to share with guests the meaning behind those objects, allowing for a significant one-on-one encounter.

The Gifts of Connection runs through Feb. 25 at the Park City Kimball Art Center (1251 Kearns Blvd., Park City). Gallery operating hours are Tuesday – Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Saturday – Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; visit kimballartcenter.org for additional event information.

• Tristan Sadler

Relay (Powder Mountain) @ Powder Mountain Resort
For many Utah locals and visitors, outdoor recreation in the winter is in part a chance to connect with the state's natural beauty. Yet there's also a rich "land art" tradition in Utah that calls attention to that beauty in unique and powerful ways. Such a new addition comes to Powder Mountain Resort, with the addition of Relay (Powder Mountain) by Paris-based American artists Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly.

Located over the Sun Tunnel "magic carpet" by the resort's ski school, Relay consists of a rainbow pattern of spiraling colored light on tinted vinyl strips covering the canopy, providing a dazzling view as skiers are pulled up the hill. The work is designed to offer a distinctive experience based on light and weather conditions, as well as being illuminated from inside at night. The artists acknowledge being influenced in part by Nancy Holt's landmark Sun Tunnels in the Great Basin Desert, turning art into a kind of solar observatory. In a press statement, the artists jointly shared, "We were thrilled by the invitation to create Relay (Powder Mountain). ... It is so rare to have an opportunity to think about an artwork integrated into the daily activity of a site like a ski mountain. This, plus working in the vicinity of some of the most important projects in the history of Land Art, made the experience unique and memorable."

Relay (Powder Mountain) opened Jan. 2, and is available now at Powder Mountain Resort (6965 E. Powder Mountain Road, Eden). Visit powdermountain.com for resort operating hours, and ski school information.

• GustlinFibonacci

Prehistoric Whispers: Jylian Gustlin and Siri Hollander @ Gallery MAR
The distinctive perspectives of individual artists can make it challenging to present joint shows that offer a thematic connection—particularly when those artists work in such divergent media as mixed-media sculptor Siri Hollander and painter Jylian Gustlin. But Prehistoric Whispers finds in their work a common interest in looking to the past for inspiration, whether it's in the human form, the natural world or the developments of science.

Hollander, currently based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, begins her life-size sculptures of horses with welding together a steel armature, over which a mixture of cement and sand is applied to create something that can endure in harsh weather conditions. While there is an abstract quality to her creations, they are still recognizable in evoking the spirit of the plains, successfully achieving the artist's expressed desire "to make something grand." Gustlin, meanwhile, has consistently been inspired by the intersection between mathematics, technology and visual art, in part due to growing up with a visual artist and a computer scientist as parents. A mixed-media series inspired by the Fibonacci sequence ("Fibonacci 434" is pictured) captures this notion, as Gustlin notes, "I just try to create suggestions; I'm more interested in helping people see what they can see."

Prehistoric Whispers opens at Gallery MAR (436 Main St., Park City) with a reception on Jan. 12, 6 – 9 p.m., featuring live music and light refreshments, and will run through Feb. 2. Gallery operating hours are Monday – Wednesday 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Thursday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Visit gallerymar.com for additional event information.