Stories from the Field

Throughout 2024, our agency's 125th anniversary, we collected your stories and photos related to your experience with our agency. We may share these stories and photos on social media, in newsletters, on our website, and in other communications. Thank you! 

A group of people stands in a gallery in front of a sign that reads, "Artists in Residence."

Fanny Guadalupe Blauer,
Artes de Mexico en Utah

I want to express my gratitude to the Utah Division of Arts and Museums. With your support, we have been able to achieve many goals, reach out to community, and build a more sustainable organization. You are an organization that has believed in us; with your funding, you have allowed us to move to the next step. I am thankful to all our volunteers, staff, and community that have trusted our programs and have helped us to make them meaningful and accessible to our different communities.
A woman holds a birthday cake in front of another woman.

Elizabeth Egleston Giraud

UA&M had a profound effect on my life. In 1983, I started working for Repertory Dance Theatre as the development director, writing grants soliciting funding from UA&M. I knew nothing of UA&M prior to this, but it swept me into the local and state arts community. Through UA&M I received a summer fellowship to work at the National Endowment for the Arts, where I learned of graduate degrees in historic preservation. The next summer I was on my way to Cornell University. That master's degree established my long career in historic preservation, and it all began with my RDT employment and association with UA&M. Photo by Doug Sonntag.
An orchestra and choir perform onstage.

Sara Penny,
Orchestra of Southern Utah

Funding from the Utah Division of Arts & Museums has allowed us to have many exciting symphony orchestra concerts, including commissioned music, as well as expanding audiences through school assemblies, family matinees, and VIP tickets for 4th and 9th graders as we encourage students to choose their own instruments for their musical journey. 
A group of people plays with a multicolored tarp and balloons.

Sara Penny,
Cedar City Arts Council

Being a Local Arts Agency for Cedar City has been enhanced by grants from the Utah Division of Arts & Museums. We are able to host a Final Friday Art Walk on the last Fridays of June through September to feature local artists and musicians, public socials to connect the community with artists, and a public literary group. One of our most valuable uses of the funds has been funding mini-grants of up to $500 for community art projects since 2008. This has helped several organizations get organized that are now enhancing our community, such as the Cedar City Junior Ballet, Master Singers' men's choir, In Jubilo women's choir, Iron County Acoustic Music Association, and Southern Utah Watercolor Association. Most recently, our grant-funded Music and Motion classes for adults with disabilities (pictured in photo above) have been very successful. We also coordinate an art and photography contest in conjunction with the Cedar Livestock and Heritage Festival. We appreciate the ongoing support of the arts throughout the state from the Utah Division of Arts & Museums.
A gray-haired woman with glasses wearing a yellow blouse smiles for the camera.

Carol Edison,
Former UA&M staffer

As a native Utahn with a love of Utah history and a lifelong fascination with Native Americans, I lucked into working at the Utah Division of Fine Arts in the Folk Arts Program. I was a self-taught photographer, I had some experience working on films, and I couldn’t take enough classes in art history. My master’s degree in English from the U of U didn’t offer much of a career path, so in the summer of 1978, when I got a call from a friend asking if I wanted to spend a month or so in St. George producing the second Southern Utah Folklife Festival, I jumped at the chance!

Not only is Utah’s arts agency the oldest in the country, but our state’s Folk Arts Program is also the second (or third) oldest in the nation. In the mid-1970s, the National Endowment for the Arts, acknowledging the value of traditional arts, encouraged state agencies to create Folk Arts Programs. In 1976, director Ruth Draper hired Hal Cannon, who became Utah’s first Folk Arts Coordinator.

From 1978 until 2011, I had the pleasure of working throughout the state with traditional artists from Utah’s native, ethnic, occupational, and rural communities. I was able to help document their artistry through interviews, sound recordings, and photography. And along with my colleagues, we found ways to share their traditional artistry with the public through exhibitions, performances, festivals, and publications. The Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Arts and the annual Living Traditions Festival are two of the projects we got started. I had amazing colleagues, worked with incredible artists, and I cherish the 33 years I was able to work at the first state arts council in the country.

A man wearing a white outfit performs onstage.

Mestre Jamaika
(Mauro Romualdo),
Salt Lake Capoeira

I’m grateful to the Utah Arts & Museums’ support of artists like myself. I am from Brazil and practice the unique Afro-Brazilian art form of capoeira. Through UA&M’s Career Advancement Scholarships, I’ve been able to study with a master drummer as well as work with a mentor to write and record capoeira music. I was also honored to receive the Performing Arts Fellowship in 2021. The professional development, funding, and recognition have in turn helped me better the Salt Lake capoeira community that I serve, including our outreach efforts across Utah. Thank you, UA&M!
A headshot of a smiling bald man.

Jim Glenn,
Former UA&M Staffer

As a former employee, being a small part of the legacy of Alice Merrill Horne's Art Institute was such an honor, and this deepened as I learned the history of AMH and her vision of what an arts institute could do for the people of Utah. And, importantly, what an agency can do to help create a healthy environment where artists have a chance at a living wage.

I was working at the Utah Arts Council during its 100-year celebration, and I was so pleased when my suggested tagline, "100 Artful Years," was part of that celebration. So, on this anniversary, I am thinking of the long family line of people who toil, laugh, cry, and even scream to fulfill and grow AMH's vision. Those people with whom I had the honor to work, cry, laugh, and even scream over all those years – not only did they do amazing things, but they deepened my understanding of love, patience, and generosity.

The interior of a public building with large windows.

Camille Schubert,
Salt Lake City Public Library
Art Committee

In order to see how local organizations feature and highlight local artists, The City Library’s Art Exhibits Committee scheduled a tour at the Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Arts in Salt Lake City’s lovely Liberty Park. The process of scheduling the tour was easy and efficient. We quickly heard back from Museum Administrator Jenna Ehlinger, who helped us find a time that worked out for our committee to visit the museum. Jenna’s tour of the space was informative and personalized for our team. We felt fortunate to be able to view artwork from Utah's diverse cultures and communities. Thank you for making this possible! 
An audience listens to an outdoor music concert.

Leslie Peterson, Utah Symphony | Utah Opera

Congratulations to the Utah Division of Arts & Museums on its 125th anniversary! The success and far-reaching impact of this agency responds to – and furthers the love of – state residents for live experiences in the arts shared with their families, friends, and neighbors. The above photo was taken at sunset in Spring City during Utah Symphony | Utah Opera’s August 2023 “Music Elevated Tour,” a treasured memory for artists and audiences alike. General operating support we receive through the division helps the state’s internationally-acclaimed orchestra and opera company travel to communities large and small. We are on the road every year performing in school gymnasiums and municipal auditoriums. In partnership with the division and other state agencies, USUO frequently presents one-week tours bringing free outdoor concerts by Utah Symphony musicians and Opera guest artists to rural areas such as Spring City. I’m grateful for the opportunity we have at USUO to partner with the division to present professional artists in settings that are accessible to residents of all ages, backgrounds, and locations. Thanks to the vibrant leadership of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, engagement with the arts is a way of life in Utah. 

Photo credit: Ian Mower

A vintage photo of a woman wearing a star-spangled dress and a crown.

Suzanne Anderson,
Emery County Archives

A thank you to UA&M for the training and funding they have given to my rural, underserved, and small institution in Castle Dale, Emery County, for these past few years. Their help and support have had a huge impact on me and enabled the archives to host events with displays that we previously could not do because of a minimal budget. 

Photo courtesy of Emery County Archives

A woman with pink hair and green-rimmed glasses holds two books about art.

Lola Beatlebrox

“Alice Merrill Horne,” a children's biography of the founder of the first state arts agency in the nation, was conceived and written by Lola Beatlebrox to accompany the Early Utah Masterpieces Traveling Exhibition in 2007. The author, an educator for nonprofits and corporations, wanted children to understand the impact of the first woman elected to the Utah State Legislature. She was a remarkable personality who advocated for the arts wherever she went, and, of course, established the State of Utah Alice Merrill Horne Art Collection. The text and illustrations highlight Horne’s accomplishments, portray her vivid personality, and relate fun anecdotes about her colorful life. Because the author designed the book to be a companion piece for the exhibit catalog, the book and catalog are "intertwined" to teach children about the masterpieces. The author worked with illustrator Anita Crane to "hide" different masterpieces within the biography illustrations. Through a "hide-and-seek game," children can match the picture of the masterpiece with its picture in the catalog. Adults should be aware that the book is not just for children. The author calls the book an "executive summary" of Alice Merrill Horne's life because it contains all the salient highlights and is just as enjoyable for an adult to read. 

A gallery showing a display of Native American woven artworks.

Diego Velasquez, 
Moab Museum

Over the past few years, the Moab Museum has partnered with the Utah Division of Arts & Museums’ Traveling Exhibition Program to expand the stories we tell from Southeast Utah and the Colorado Plateau. We have featured “Block Prints by Everett Ruess,” “Navajo Children: Weaving the Future,” and “Topaz Stories” in the past two years, building upon our local stories, adding programmatic elements to the artistry included, and showcasing the depth of craftsmanship across generations. Without these traveling exhibitions, our small and rural museum would be limited in expanding our stories beyond our immediate confines. Programs such as this from the division expand our reach and add breadth visitors and locals alike have come to thoroughly enjoy and expect out of our institution. 

The views and opinions expressed in any content from outside partners do not necessarily reflect the views of the Utah Division of Arts & Museums.