With a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS), the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, in partnership with Thanksgiving Point, has selected 38 museums from across the United States to participate in the Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) study. These museums will study social impact in their communities, helping the Division further refine …
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) recently recognized our StEPs-UT program with a National Leadership Award of Excellence. Our museums program, in partnership with Utah Humanities and Utah Division of State History, administered the StEPs-UT Jumpstart Pilot Program. This program engaged a cohort of seven small history museums in Utah over two years with training, individual mentoring, …
Our agency is committed to enhancing the accessibility of all our services. A key part of this is the accessibility of our website. To that end, we’ve initiated a website accessibility project in an effort to increase the ability of all individuals to access our digital resources and services. Leading this effort is Will Bubenik, a part-time addition to our …
On April 30, 2021, the finalists of the Senate Art Competition were given their awards at a reception at the Utah State Capitol. Although COVID-19 prevented the awards ceremony from being held during the session on the Senate floor, UA&M and the Senate were happy to have the opportunity this night to honor those students who shared their talents and …
On April 28, Governor and Mrs. Cox celebrated living artists whose works were selected for display at the Governor’s Mansion. Artists and their families were invited to an evening event at the Mansion for a guided tour and artwork reveal. As the tour moved through the Mansion, each artist was given the opportunity to speak directly about their specific work …
“Navajo Children: Weaving the Future,” from our Traveling Exhibitions Program, is now on display on the fourth floor of the Utah State Capitol. This collection, on loan from the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program, showcases rugs and blankets weaved by talented Navajo children living in the Navajo Nation. While handmade rugs and blankets have always been an important part of Native American culture …
The Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement (formerly Department of Heritage & Arts), Salt Lake County Arts & Culture, and the Utah Cultural Alliance commissioned Y2 Analytics to conduct a survey measuring consumer confidence and willingness to return to live arts, culture, entertainment, and events following the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of Utahns are currently very comfortable visiting stores …
As a result of the earthquake that rocked northern Utah last March, the racking system in our ArtHaus storage facility was badly damaged. In the first few days following the earthquake, we remained uncertain about the status of the State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection and if any pieces had been completely destroyed — thankfully, none were. During …
The Utah Division of Arts & Museums (UA&M) recently secured new funding from a national grant program to advance creative aging programs for older adults in Utah. Recognizing that older adults have many contributions to make to their communities — but that they often face ageism and isolation and have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 — UA&M sought funding from …
Last year, northern Utah experienced an earthquake that resulted in damage to our racking system that stores pieces from the State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection. About 70 percent of the collection is stored at our art storage facility, loving dubbed the ArtHaus, and at the time of the earthquake, there were close to 900 pieces of artwork …
Our museums staff, in partnership with Utah Humanities, have been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create the Utah Community Preservation Program, which will train professionals across the state who manage cultural collections. One conservator will be hired to coordinate the program and serve as lead instructor for a series of 24 online and eight …
The 2021 Sundance Film Festival held a virtual Women’s Leadership Celebration to honor women who guided Utah through 2020. We’re delighted that our director, Victoria Panella Bourns, was selected to be among the honorees. Throughout 2020, Vicki led our organization with vision and compassion as we used our resources to help Utah artists, arts organizations, and museums navigate the pandemic. …