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Title: Utah Arts Festival
Author: Paul Carr
Date: June, 1984
The eighth annual Utah Arts Festival will be held June 27th through July 1 in downtown Salt Lake. This year, the festival will be held at the Triad Center's Devereaux Plaza on South Temple between 3rd and 4th West.
The five day outdoor festival celebrates the diversity of the arts in Utah and the West by showcasing over 80 performing artists, 70 visual artists, 30 demonstrating craftsmen, 19 food artists, a video exhibit and a children's art yard.
This is the first year that the festival will be held at the new location. In addition to an open air amphitheater, the Triad Center will offer approximately one-half acre more space than the old Salt Palace/Symphony Hall location.
"We're really excited about this year's Festival," said Beth Budd, Director of Publicity and Volunteers. She added, "In addition to the location, the festival will feature several other new attractions. A 600-ton sand sculpture will be erected on the corner of South Temple and 300 West." Budd wouldn't disclose the subject matter of the sculpture, however she did hint that it would be easily recognizable by most Utahns.
Another special feature will be the Saturday night (June 30) performance by MOMIX. MOMIX is an internationally acclaimed modern dance company. These performers are very athletic, acrobatic and highly innovative, according to Budd.
The other special feature previously unoffered will be the video exhibit. Unlike most of the other exhibits, this will be held indoors. The video exhibit will be three different, three-dimensional sets, with each set depicting a stage in the history of video art.
The first set will be a typical late 50's, early 60's living room set. In the living room, video displays of old Ernie Kovacs and I Love Lucy will be shown. In addition, Budd said that previously unseen outtakes from Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life will also be shown.
The second set will be comprised of video installation sculptures of artistic creations. Different screens will be placed on a platform and various video artists will display their work.
The third set will expand into the 80's, according to Budd. Contemporary computer graphics and viewer triggered images will highlight this video exhibit.
"This year's festival promises to be the best yet," said Budd. Thanks to a joint effort between the state, the city, the county, private corporations and over fifteen hundred volunteers who donated thousands of hours, this year's Utah Arts Festival is fast becoming a reality.
Its strength and its future lie in its ability to continue to do what no other arts organization in the state does: support Utah's visual and performing artists and arts organizations and offer the highest quality arts programming for free, to all its citizens.
Utah is the only state of the union that supports such a festival.
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