Adjacent to the City Library, on the north end of 200 East on the Utah Arts Festival grounds is a pavilion housing at any point during the day between 20 and 40 individuals. They are festival visitors waiting eagerly in line (like Utahns love to do) learning and mastering the skill to evolve their technique.

They’ve heard the instructions over and over, paid their money, and are envisioning exactly what they are going to do when it is finally their turn. This isn’t life or death but, for some, it seems like a once-in-a-lifetime experience being finally realized. These men, women and children are amateur glass blowers, and any festival visitor still has time to share the experience through the festival’s final day.

Prairie Dog Glass is offering anyone a chance to become a glass artist, giving you the creative power in choosing your own colors, creating your own design, and learning about the process and peculiarities of working glass. Two master glass-blowers are on site to oversee and instruct participants while they create glass paperweights with impossibly unique and intricate designs.

Prairie Dog Glass from Santa Fe, New Mexico has brought 200 pounds of glass to the festival, which they heat to 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit until it is a glass puddle inside a portable crucible. Glassblowers use a ‘hot-rod’ to pick up some glass and participants roll it in alloy-enhanced pigments, stick it in ‘the glory hole’ which heats it to 1,000 degrees.

Then, folks like you and me can pinch, pull, and twist their material before it is sealed in a globe of glass. Final shaping and labeling occurs before the piece is put in the annealer, the fractionating refrigerator that brings the glass temperature from 1000 degrees to 100 degrees overnight and the personalized paperweight is ready for pick up the next day at 10 a.m.

A customized motorcycle trailer holds all of the equipment, which was fabricated by the blowers. ‘Its purpose was to show collectors and children the process – from A-to-Z – and appreciate what goes into the art,’ Ira Lujan, master glassblower, says.

‘We expect to help 200 people to be a glass blower through the event,’ says Kyle Prinkey, the scientist and businessman for Prairie Dog. ‘I do this so that the artists can focus on the glass.’ He also is the one who stays up all night to check on the glass, to make sure it remains stable.

‘This medium is so limitless with what you can do with it, I have so many ideas,’ Lujan explains. ‘But I’m somewhat of a purist and avoid molds. I stick strictly to the best nature of it.’

Masterpieces by Prairie Dog Glass artists also are available for sale at the pavilion. Wells Fargo has subsidized the costs of materials for the first 40 people per day to enable participants to create their own artwork for $15.

Others beyond the first 40 will pay $30, still a highly reasonable deal.

Workshops, which last for two hours, are held daily from 2 to 4 p.m., and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information about Prairie Dog Glass, see here. And for the festival’s remaining events through tomorrow (Sunday) see here.

Inside the Art Yard at the Utah Arts Festival can become quite noisy with kids involved in creating art, screaming kids, crying kids, and antsy parents. One few safe haven for quiet is the half-hour Fear No Film Kids’ comedy program of seven short films playing in one corner, where children relax with something familiar – a TV screen. The other is the Summerhays Music Center tent, where something approaching the level of magic is happening.

A rare sight of quiet reverence prevails under the shade as children are introduced to instruments that might change forever some of their lives.

Handlers instruct children to be cautious and controlled in this petting zoo – no fast movements or abrupt jerky tendencies are allowed. Handlers bring the displays to the children and, one by one, children are individually fitted for instruments. In some cases, we may be witnessing the start of a lifelong love of music.

Initially created as a recruiting tool to get children interested and exposed to different instruments, Summerhays has conducted its ‘Instrument Petting Zoos’ for the past three years. Targeting more than 1,000 kids to come through the exhibit during the festival’s four days, handlers find it difficult to count because many children keep returning over and over.

‘I’ve been here for more than an hour,’ says Mike Bernier, a parent who appears to be nearing his tolerance level for squeaky strings and brash reedy sounds. ‘We haven’t left this area, and they keep getting back in line. They love it; I’m just ready for a beer.’

It helps students become familiarized with different types and approaches to musical instruments, and helps them determine what they eventually might like to play.

‘We let them try everything, that’s the beauty of exposure,’ says Paul Dance of Summerhays. ‘A lot of kids change their mind, so we give them the opportunity to try different instruments and make sure they are appropriately fitted.’

Dance travels full-time to elementary schools throughout Utah offering this program, and he enjoys the process of fitting them to an instrument initially, and interacting again as the child grows older and needs a larger size. Dance also enjoys the process of helping the student find the right private music instructor and he stays in frequent contact with the music programs at their individual schools.

The ‘instrument petting zoo’ will remain open from noon to 9 p.m. through tomorrow in the southwest corner of the festival campus.

For more information about Summerhays, see here. And, for the remaining schedule of UAF events, see here.

Summerhays Instrument Petting Zoo from Utah Arts Festival on Vimeo.

And, the renewed relationship with Ballet West is like the icing on the cake in a year where festival organizers already have expanded their statewide network in the arts and cultural community to unprecedented depth and breadth. It is a result of three years of careful planning involving Lisa Sewell, executive director; Adam Sklute, artistic director of Ballet West, and Johann Jacob, executive director of Ballet West. And, a $15,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant that the festival received last year is making the performances possible.

For the curious who perhaps have never been to the ballet or for those who have followed a holiday season tradition of attending the company’s annual production of ‘The Nutcracker,’ the festival appearances present a perfect venue to sample the versatile spectrum of this magnificent art form. For the more experienced audience members, it will reinforce their appreciation for the gifts of technique and capacity for artistic expression that have defined Ballet West as one of the nation’s most acclaimed dance institutions.

For Ballet West, which like many performing arts organizations is continuously challenged in building long-term relationships with new generations of audiences, the festival appearances can stimulate interest among younger, more diverse demographic segments who might be inspired and will feel definitely more comfortable in checking out the company’s forthcoming season.

For those who have enjoyed, for example, the recent trends in vampire pop culture and entertainment, Ballet West’s forthcoming production of ‘Dracula,’ with the music of Franz List to set the mood, will have ample theatrics and opulent production elements to satisfy any fan of ‘True Blood’ or the ‘Twilight’ series.

The ballet represents a powerfully raw sense of physical effort and intense training essential to communicating a delicate expression of beauty. From an aesthetic viewpoint, that balance is intensely appealing and opens easily the door for audiences to appreciate the ballet.

The company’s festival performances include classical selections as well as an original choreographed piece from its repertoire. The performance opens with Thomas Mattingly’s ‘Fall Into Loving Arms,’ a four-part piece originally presented at the annual Innovations program, which features new works choreographed by Ballet West’s artists.

The ballet is a loving tribute to his grandparents and each section reflects a stage in their lifetime romance. Mattingly, who last year presented the festival’s first-ever dance commission, considers this work to be his most personal. ‘My grandparents, who are in their 80s, have always been amazing in terms of their deep love for each other,’ he explains.

Each of the first three movements is a pas de deux representing the couple at various stages of their life. The first recounts how they met and fell in love, while the second reflects how Mattingly observed them as he grew. ‘There never was a negative moment,’ he says. ‘They always were there for each other.’ The third movement becomes more bittersweet and poignant as the couple confronts the inevitable prospects of death, echoing his grandmother’s ongoing battle with cancer. In the final movement, Mattingly brings the three couples together – an elegantly choreographed metaphor representing a lifetime of memories embedded in the purest form of love.

The ballet is set to music by Claude Debussy and Frederic Chopin. The costumes by David Heuvel reflect clearly the couple in their various stages of life. The women are adorned in silk satin dresses. The men wear slacks with suspenders and, as they age, the apparel becomes a vest and tie.

The other selections also will be surefire audience pleases. Among them is the ‘Chaconne – Grand Pas de Deux,’ choreographed by George Balanchine© The George Balanchine Trust, to which Ballet West still has the rights. Described as one of the repertoire’s most technically difficult pieces, it is a jaw-dropping exhibition of athleticism.

Fiery with lots of Spanish flair, ‘Don Quixote – Wedding Pas de Deux’ is choreographed by Marius Petipa, known widely as the father of Russian ballet. One of the great ballet warhorses – The Swan Lake ‘Pas de Deux,’ also choreographed by Marius Petipa, is on the program as is ‘The Flames of Paris Pas de Deux,’ choreographed by Vasily Vainonen.

Among the dancers who will perform is Katherine Lawrence, who has just been promoted to principal artist for the next season. A native of Hartford, Connecticut, she joined Ballet West seven years ago after performing with companies in Connecticut and Indiana. ‘This is such a wonderful opportunity to make ballet accessible to those who might not think about just how enjoyable ballet really is,’ she says.

The company also will be touring this summer including stops at the Wolf Trap summer festival in Virginia and the Chicago Dance Festival.

For more information about Ballet West, see here. And, for more information about the Utah Arts Festival, see here.

Below is one of the webisodes featuring the company.

Ballet West from Utah Arts Festival on Vimeo.

Kudos to Bombshell Music and Media for a great series of webisodes.

Continue to follow The Selective Echo’s wall-to-wall coverage with my colleague and assistant editor, Max Dahl.

Making Tracks to the Utah Arts Festival from Utah Arts Festival on Vimeo.

With scores of Utah Arts Festival performing artists to choose from, sprawled across five stages, the question arises, ‘how to prioritize which one to see?’ At some point, make it a point to check out one of the local headliners. The four groups play a variety of styles, and have similarly eclectic views on music.

The UAF Youth Rock Ensemble is an amalgamation of young performers who are enrolled in one of Utah’s great musician combines. They will play popular music chosen by members of the group, and have only had two months to pull it all together, playing two-hour rehearsals each Saturday.

The highly entertaining Joshua Payne Orchestra, one of the city’s most recognized groups, boasts community-known to world-class classical and jazz musicians on trumpet, guitar and drum, along with a kickass supporting brass section.

Fictionist is a group fostered in Utah County that has migrated well beyond its Provo boundaries, and The Rubes are bona-fide rock-and-roll performers from Salt Lake City who offer effective musical commentary, with just the right balance of sarcasm, on the contemporary ‘junk-culture’ world.

Each is discussed below:

The Utah Arts Festival Youth Rock Ensemble: Thursday, June 23, 4 p.m., Park Stage

Where you might have heard them? Perhaps, next door, blasting music from their bedroom or garage.

The UAF Youth Rock Ensemble comprises a broad spectrum of rock schools throughout the state: MusicGarage.Org, Rest 30 Rock, School of Rock and Wasatch Music Coaching Academy. The idea is to take the most dedicated and motivated students and mash them into a super-group.

Choosing standout music students isn’t easy for any of these groups because each musician already possesses the professional discipline and creative spark to push forward in an insanely competitive musical world. I sat down with vocalist Janey Lyon of MusicGarage.Org to understand the work it takes to be a superstar at 17.

‘I sang my whole life, played guitar for six years and my uncle wanted me to take a step up and widen my musical knowledge,’ Lyon says. ‘It was intimidating at first to be performing with the older kids, but now I come for a good time. I love it; it’s a good community of supporters, where everyone comes to play music together. I’ve made really good friends, and we’re still such good friends even though we’ve moved on to different bands.’

Students are allowed to pick their own music at MusicGarage.Org, which occasionally can be the cause of creative turmoil, but they also are coached in how to work through band disagreements.

‘Overall, I would rather these kids be great people than great musicians,’ says Steve Auerbach, the father figure at MusicGarage.Org. ‘Granted, on stage I want them to play it right. I never tell kids what they can’t do. I say, “Okay, let’s see what you’re capable of” and then try to nurture their talent and show I believe in them until they do things they can’t believe themselves.’

Lyons is no lightweight, having played solo shows at Kilby Court, Desert Rocks Festival, and other Utah venues. She also knows her rock history too. ‘Led Zeppelin defines what it is,’ Lyons says. ‘I’ve done a lot of Led Zeppelin covers, because they have the most emotion, and most brilliance. They have been the hardest to nail. They always kind of frighten me because they take so much work, but they are so much fun. I’m definitely a fan.’

The four schools provide two songs each, for an eight-song set. Individual schools will also perform earlier Thursday, starting at noon.

Joshua Payne Orchestra, Friday, June 24, 10:15 p.m., Festival Stage

Where you might have heard them? On the street, downtown Salt Lake, Grand America Hotel. Max’s Bar-Mitzvah.

Joshua Payne Orchestra (JPO) can admit to being ‘by far, Salt Lake’s busiest band,’ and can show the schedule and experienced talent as proof. Being booked for at least six weekly performances in venues such as the Grand America Hotel, JPO also plays at weddings or special occasions by far-in-advance planning. Also, recently, the ensemble has played at midnight in alleys throughout downtown Salt Lake.

‘Midnight street shows are really something else, my favorite thing in life right now,’ Payne says. ‘The nine-piece band does midnight performances every Friday night, and we always have a new song ready every week. That’s just the best.’

Payne tries to schedule studio recording every three weeks, which have been done with more than 60 songs in the ‘orchestra book’ over the last three years. JPO’s first full length vinyl release ‘ZOOM’ has been out for two weeks, with original tracks recorded by the band.

Payne is especially looking forward to the festival. His high school friend Ryan Thorell has become a guitar builder with artist Frank Vignola, musical producers and university instructors as clientele. Recently Payne acquired one.

‘I haven’t put it down since. I take it with me everywhere – to the coffee shop, to the grocery store, the bar – and wherever I go, I love it so much,’ Payne says. ‘I think it’s the best guitar on the planet and I’m going to be using it for the performance.’

Payne has earned his performing chops – with the breakneck scheduling pace, from making his living playing in the New York subway system, and jamming with legends.

‘I got invited to sit in with Les Paul at the Iridium Club. And Les put his arm around me and said “Josh, boy, you could make this your home. Come and play with me anytime,”’ Payne remembers. ‘He was just very encouraging and very supportive because he knew I was struggling. It really meant a lot to me.’

For information about JPO or locations for midnight shows, follow them on Twitter @jp_orchestra.

Fictionist, Saturday June 25, 9 p.m., Park Stage

Where you might’ve heard them? Online: Free downloads available on their Facebook page. Pages and promotions for Rolling Stone magazine.

Fictionist is a band out of Provo hoping to follow in the footstep of Neon Trees and become a Billboard leader, crowding out more well-financed and experienced artists. After participating in Rolling Stone’s tournament-style competition, ‘Do You Want to be a Rock ‘n Roll Star,’ Fictionist was thrust into a larger spotlight.

‘The competition put us in a big pressure cooker, and forced us to act a little bit more like the professional musicians that we hope to be,’ says Brandon Kitterman. ‘We got a lot of attention due to the fact of being associated with the Rolling Stone name, and it came with good feedback on our sound and our sets, playing and recording, which benefited us musically as a band, and a huge PR push gave us a bigger network for distributing music.’

Fictionist advanced to the third round before exiting the competition. ‘We realized how great of a fan base we have. So many people we were willing support us and help us to vote and post things about it online,’ Kitterman says. ‘I guess it’s more about catching a glimpse of what it would be like. Being a local band trying to make it into a bigger scene doing bigger things, we got a glimpse of what it would be like to deal with a new set of problems.’ For example: working with established producers.

‘We wrote two songs produced by David Bendeth, and it was definitely an interesting experience. We went in with our preconceptions and it went totally different. It tweaked us; helped us understand more about what is most important to us and solidified us as a unit,’ Kitterman says, adding the band emerged, reenergized to make great new music.

Kitterman admits the biggest benefit was the sense of being a part of a network of musicians in the country. ‘Sometimes it can feel like a competition, but when you play with a band and talk afterwards and build a relationship it changes your perspective. Eliminating the idea of competition has been an eye opener for me,’ he adds.

The Rubes, Sunday, June 26, 9 p.m., Park Stage

Where you might’ve heard them? Virtually any concert venue in a 600-mile radius from Salt Lake City during the last 10 years.

The Rubes have the coveted Sunday evening spot, and have a lot expected of them. ‘We get this reputation for being showstoppers because we have always tried to be really entertaining; I think that’s very important,’ Greg Midgey says. ‘People come to see a band, and also expect to have something visually interesting.’

The Rubes have been a Salt Lake staple for the past decade, playing consistent shows in venues and for high-profile community events. ‘We’re getting a bit older, married, and some of us have kids, which change the dynamic of the band a little. The Rubes has always been the effort to translate all of our favorite music, do it in our own way without being dramatic or out in left-field – just playing rock-and-roll. It’s really about the four guys in the band, and how much fun we have when we play together. It’s the main thing we’re trying to get across,’ Midgey explains.

Although The Rubes typically play excellent covers, they will perform all original music from the band’s three studio albums as well as new music being developed. ‘We are hoping to finish this summer and release by fall. We’ve got a really exciting gig in July opening up for music legend Andre Williams; it’s going to be at Garage [on Beck Street in north Salt Lake]. The guy is one of the greatest performers and song writers of all time. We opened up last year for him, and we’re hoping as many people as possible will come—even if they don’t like us! Anyone who hasn’t seen Andre needs to come see him, he’s the real deal,’ Midgey says.

All members of the Rubes still maintain day jobs, school schedules, and family commitments but they stay heavily involved in the Salt Lake music scene. ‘We’re not hell bent on getting signed or dominating the music scene. If people come to hear us play and have a good time, it keeps me wanting to perform publicly,’ Midgey says. ‘I would be content playing at family get-togethers, but when you play in public with a decent-size crowd enjoying and dancing and feeding off that energy, it makes you want to keep doing it.’

Any spoilers for the festival? ‘Generally we don’t have the resources to shoot flamethrowers nor does a Houdini act. We’re usually a traditional four-piece band, but for the festival we have a ‘big band’: a four-piece horn section named the ‘brass knuckles’, four backup singers and hopefully a special guest as well. For the festival, we’re bringing our vibe and trying to make it sound like rock ‘n’ roll. But, we might be wearing some outrageous costumes.’

For more information about the performers and times, see here.

Among the highlights include author Dorothee Kocks will be sharing excerpts from her new novel ‘The Glass Harmonica: A Sensualist’s Tale’ which will take place Saturday, June 25, at 4 p.m. on The Big Mouth Stage. (See here for a Selective Echo featured.)

Members of the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, which has set the national standard in storytelling, will share tales in two sessions – Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26, at 1 p.m. in the Salt Lake Community College Writing Center on the festival campus.

The festival also is pairing with NightFlight Comics on Library Square to hold three workshops on creating comic books which will be held by Richard Jenkins, who created the Sky Ape graphic novel series and has written short-story comics as well as other serialized graphic novels. Jenkins is well-known for his work with school districts throughout the United States.

There is no shortage of literary personalities for the Big Mouth Stage. The festival’s second-ever slam poetry competition, which saw an overflow crowd last year, will include Salt Lake City teams as well as the defending champion, SlamNUBA of Denver. The competition takes place Saturday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m.

The regular poetry slam event will have competitive rounds on Thursday, June 23, and Friday, June 24, at 7:30 p.m. and with the final slamoff on Sunday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m. A teem slam also will be held Saturday, June 25, at 3 p.m.

In addition, some of Salt Lake City’s best known slam poets will perform also on the Big Mouth Stage including Jesse Parent and Mike Dimitri. These poets are among those featured in ‘The Silhouettes,’ one of the nine short films eligible for the Utah Short Film of The Year Award, which is presented by Fear No Film. The 16-minute short premiered at Spy Hop Productions’ PitchNic program last fall.

Of course, Utah’s literary arts venue would not be complete without an appearance by Alex Caldiero, one of the state’s best known literary figures who was the subject of The Sonosopher, a feature-length documentary film directed by Torben Bernhard and Travis Low, that has appeared in several major film festivals. Caldiero, whose latest book is ‘Poetry Is Wanted Here,’ will read Saturday, June 25, at 6 p.m.

Another prominent figure is Teresa Jordan, who will read Sunday, June 26, at 4:30 p.m. at the Big Mouth Stage. No stranger to the Intermountain West literary scene, she is a fourth-generation family member of cattle ranch owners in the Iron Mountain country of southeast Wyoming. Jordan has written or edited seven books about Western rural life, culture, and the environment, including the memoir ‘Riding the White Horse Home’ and ‘Cowgirls: Women of the American West,’ a widely cited study of women on ranches and in the rodeo.

There also will be readings with Bond and Sara Caldiero as well as daily performances at 6:30 p.m. by Wise Guys Comedy.

There are two 24-hour writing competitions, coordinated and judged with the help of the Salt Lake Community College’s (SLCC) Community Writing Center staff.

And, budding writers of all ages can choose from a dozen hands-on writing workshops, also coordinated by SLCC staffers. These include programs for writing about food, civil rights and community issues as well as approaching micro-fiction, digital storytelling, and non-rhyming poetry.

Kids’ workshops also are tailored for interactive activities. For example, children will be given a painted rock and asked to produce a short written piece. Likewise, in another session, kids will be given magnets to come up with ‘banana haikus.’ Another session deals with creating DaDa poetry.

Last year brought nearly 75 writers to the second Wasatch IronPen Literary Marathon Competition, and Bond expects a similar if not larger showing this year. Participants can enter in one of three categories – fiction, nonfiction, and poetry – and they will get their writing cues Friday, June 24, at 6 p.m. and will need to submit their work 24 hours later in order to be eligible for judging.

For the truly adventurous, there is an Ultra IronPen challenge in which authors will submit works in all three genres within the 24-hour period.

Registration, which closes at 5:55 p.m. on June 24, is $10 for the IronPen competition and $30 for the Ultra IronPen portion. For more information, call (801) 957-2192 or visit here.

Judging is based on youth and adult categories and winners will read selections from their entries Sunday, June 26, at 2 p.m. at the Big Mouth Stage.

The SLCC Community Writing Center at the Library Square, directed by Andrea Malouf, has been a major base of support in developing the festival’s literary arts program. The center, which has built a strong pioneering reputation in the country for its outreach activities, has partnerships with more than 40 community organizations and has been particularly instrumental in helping individuals prepare themselves for college work who otherwise might not have considered the opportunity.

For more information about the festival’s literary arts program, see here.

In 2002, Eli Oftedal was just five years old when he participated in his first Utah Arts Festival’s Art Attack race. A little nervous, he nevertheless enjoyed competing in the kids’ 1K division so much that he returned to win it consecutively six times.

Now 14, Oftedal, who will be a freshman this fall at Salt Lake City’s Rowland Hall, continues to pile on the honors. Named Utah male athlete of the year (junior division) in 2007 by USA Track And Field, he ran his best time (4:39) in the 1500 meter last weekend at the USATF-Utah Junior Olympic championships with a time of 4:39 and will attempt to beat that this weekend in Boise at the regional championships.

Although Eli will miss this year’s race, he says it inspired him to run and compete. ‘My goal each year was to improve my time from the previous year,’ he says, adding that he always prominently marked the date of the race each year on his calendar.

No doubt, the race has been a good practice venue not only for kids like Eli but also for the amateur ‘weekend warrior’ athlete or the aspiring serious runner who values the bonus opportunity to support the state’s largest cultural arts gathering of the year.

On June 25 at 7:45 a.m., more than 75 kids under the age of 12 are expected to join more than 350 adults in the 18th annual Art Attack 5K and 1K race, which will be held at Sugarhouse Park. The event also is sponsored by Sports Med Utah and the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.

Although online registration for the event closes Thursday, June 23, at midnight, same day registration will be available on site, beginning at 7 a.m. on June 25.

The annual event raises more than $10,000 for festival programs geared toward children projects in the Art Yard. Last year, more than 11,000 children under the age of 12, who can attend the festival for free, came through the gates. More importantly, the attendance at Art Yard activities reaches more than 14,000 in the four-day total, according to Aimée Dunsmore, festival development director.

And, participants are encouraged to come up with a look or costume that exemplifies the race’s theme – ‘Art in Motion’ – and which will be judged for prizes. ‘We believe that art always should be a part of good health,’ Dunsmore explains, ‘and so we’re hoping that runners are inspired to become moving sculptures that emphasize the theme.’ There also will be face painting available.

And, in staying true to the race’s mission, those familiar with the race also know that Lisa Sewell, festival director, regularly competes in iron athlete competitions.

The event also has become a great outlet for some of the festival’s community partners who provide essential first aid and other free services not only at the race venue but also on the Library Square-Washington Square campus to thousands of visitors. Staff members from Sports Med Utah will be on hand to provide free water, sunscreen, and bandages for blisters. Also, free screenings, including those for blood pressure, are available at both venues. Race participants also will have the chance to speak with a sports trainer or physician.

The Salt Lake Regional Medical Center maintains a continuous daily presence on festival grounds, according to Tammy Clark, director of business development. Two teams of emergency medical technicians and parademics walk throughout the venue so that any problems requiring prompt medical attention can be addressed on the spot. Dehydration and heatstroke are of particular concern, especially with temperatures during the festival expected to top 90 for the first time this year. Incidentally, the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center has been ranked first in the state for cardiology and cardiac services as well as coronary intervention services by HealthGrades, an independent national hospital and clinical services ratings group. The center also has been consistently ranked in the top tier for orthopedic services.

And, festival patrons do take advantage of the opportunities for free blood pressure checks. ‘Last year, a visitor stopped by to have his blood pressure checked, which turned out to be quite high,’ Clark says, ‘and the volunteer urged him to contact his physician, which he did. The next day, he returned to the festival to thank personally the staff at the booth for saving his life. Apparently, his doctor said he was lucky because it alerted him to problems that needed to be addressed immediately.’

For many kids like Eli as well as their families, the race has become a yearly tradition. ‘We brought Eli to the festival for the first time in 1997, the year he was born,’ Mark Oftedal, who competes in longer distance events than the Art Attack, says. ‘It’s been an important market for the year in our family. As soon as the race was done, Eli would have to change into his costume and head over to the festival to rehearse with his dance group which would perform on stage.’

Likewise, others noticed Eli’s impressive performance improvements at the race each year. ‘It wasn’t long before we were known to everybody as Eli’s parents,’ Mark says.

Race participants and spectators also will see the presence of Real Salt Lake and the Utah Blaze. Along with the mascots from both teams, Real Salt Lake will set up its inflatable soccer kick zone.

Dunsmore says each participant will receive a T-shirt, water bottle, and a festival ticket. Medals will be awarded to the top three finishers in each age division as well as the overall male and female categories. All kid participants will receive a medal.

The race is open to all participants of all abilities, including walkers. Registration is available online here or at the site on the morning of June 25. Fees for the 1K race, which starts at 7:45 a.m., are $20, and $30 for the 5K run, which starts at 8 a.m.

And, continue to follow The Selective Echo for wall-to-wall coverage and previews of the festival. The Selective Echo is joined by Max P. Dahl, an intern journalist from Utah State University, who is the blog’s assistant editor.

Utah Arts Festival – Random Acts of Art. Yarn Bombing! from Utah Arts Festival on Vimeo.

The first Utah Arts Festival in 1977 featured 55 artists and 43 performers. Known originally as the Salt Lake Festival of the Arts, the current name took hold in 1980. In 2011, the UAF is stronger than ever. It ranks 14th among the top 100 fine arts fairs, according to the Art Fair SourceBook. More than 600 artists applied this year with slightly more than one out of every four accepted.

GRAND PREVIEW

The 35th anniversary of the Utah Arts Festival can be summed up in one word: blockbuster. Every major arts and cultural venue is larger than ever with new artists, performers, activities, and interactive workshops. The artist marketplace will have a record-breaking 159 artists including 55 newcomers and 49 from Utah.

Prairie Dog Glass, a mobile glass blowing studio from Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be on site for demonstrations. Also, glass art workshops will include members from The Glass Art Guild of Utah. Knitters also are featured this year with the Random Acts of Art project, where groups of knitters, including festival executive director Lisa Sewell as well as members of Art Access/VSA Utah, have been meeting to stitch covers for light posts, parking meters and trees.

A grand knitting installation is being revealed today on Washington Square in downtown SLC to coincide with World-Wide Knit-in-Public Day. The Utah Watercolor Society will be in the City Library urban room on the main floor for demonstrations and opportunities for patrons to try their hand at painting.

To mark the milestone, all festival records, dating to the first festival in 1977, are now archived in the special collections department of The University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library. Some of the items as well as more than 80 photographs will be featured in the ‘1 Through 34: Revisiting the Utah Arts Festival History’ exhibition, which will be housed on the fourth floor gallery of the City Library on Library Square. The exhibition, which opens June 23 and will be available through Aug. 5, comprises seven panels, each representing a five-year period of the festival’s history as well as six display cases highlighting iconic memorabilia from the festival.

Concurrent with the archival exhibition will be ’35,’ featuring new works by six young Utah artists – all born in the same year of the festival’s founding, give or take a few years – that signal the next generation of creative expression that will become familiar to festival goers.

In its ninth year, the Fear No Film shorts festival is including a screening of seven comedy shorts for children in the Art Yard. The Literary Arts venue, along with its teen poetry slam competition and the Wasatch IronPen competition, will present a workshop where participants will learn the art of comic books with Richard Jenkins, creator of the Sky Ape graphic novel series.

Music headliners represent some of the most widely respected names in rock, blues, bluegrass, Afro-Cuban jazz, and New Orleans funk. Three composers with deep ties to the Western United States will present world premieres of music commissioned specifically for the festival.

After a ten-year absence from the festival, Utah’s nationally known Ballet West will perform every evening during the four-day run, thanks to funding from a $15,000 grant the festival received last fall from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Street Theater venue will feature Aerial Arts of Utah, which uses the City Library’s exceptional Crescent Wall as its performing canvas, along with SLAPercussion, an ensemble that works with buckets, plastic tubing, railroad spikes, and bottles. Samba Fogo, the SLC-based Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian dance and musical troupe, will bring, once again, a fiery carnival touch to the festival after a string of 2009 performances in the Library Square round that packed hundreds upon hundreds of spectators in every available space surrounding the stage.

Along with activities featuring DJ skills and graffiti, the Urban Arts Yard will house the local Copper Palate Press for hands-on printmaking and screening as well as Higher Ground Learning for interactive sessions about guerrilla art forms and members of the 337 Project who will help participants make custom trucker hats.

Local author Dorothee Kocks will share and perform excerpts from her new novel ‘The Glass Harmonica: A Sensualist’s Tale.’

With a forecast of sunny days and temperatures in the upper 80s and a slate that literally has something for everyone, attendance will undoubtedly challenge last year’s record-breaking mark of more than 82,000 during the festival, which runs from Thursday, June 23, through Sunday, June 26. All events will be at the City Library Square and Washington Square.

And, to keep a good handle on this enormous cultural undertaking, there is a festival guide app for all of this as the UAF offers its second ever iPhone application, available for free from the Apples iTunes store. Last year, the initial offering resulted in more than 1,400 downloads.

As always, festival organizers, led by executive director Lisa Sewell, remain savvy to current economic circumstances, ensuring the events are comfortably tailored for festival guests’ pocketbooks and wallets and for those increasingly concerned about how individual actions have an impact upon maintaining an ecologically friendly and sustainable environment.

The celebration of Utah’s growing artists’ colonies is manifested in many ways during the festival. For example, the ‘35’ exhibit – curated by Utah artist and Shawn Rossiter, who also edits the local art e-zine ’15Bytes,’ comprises a variety of works in media including painting, printmaking, sculptural mixed media, photography, sound and video. The invited artists are Ashley Knudsen Baker, Orem; Namon Bills, Spanish Fork; Jared Latimer, Ephraim, and Chadwick Tolley, Rosi Hayes, and Michael Ryan Handley, Salt Lake City.

ARTISTS’ MARKETPLACE

As customary, this year’s artist marketplace will not disappoint in diversity, featuring everything from pottery in both serious and whimsical forms, rich hand-made and hand-woven fibers, jewelry in glass and metal forms, oil paintings in serious and comical representations, scenic watercolors, clever toys, and photography in exceptionally executed prints and originals.

Among the invited artists – all from Utah – to be featured include Liza Julien (2-D mixed media), Amber DeBirk (glass), William Hedgecock (metalwork [pictured]), and Harold Wallace (photography).

Returning award-winning artists include Toby Mercer (Kalispell, Montana, 2-D mixed media), Dave Borba (Salt Lake City, 3-D mixed media), Yan Inlow (Alamedia, California, fiber), Brett Varney (Sechelt, British Columbia, drawing), Juli Adams (Seattle, painting), Mark Breithaupt (Phoenix, sculpture), and Trevin Prince (Logan, Utah, painting [pictured]).

MUSIC COMMISSIONS

Along with the new artists will be the premiere performances of three musical commissions including a jazz commission, started in 2008 to supplement the classical composer commission, which was started in 1991, and the chamber music commission, established in 2006 and sponsored by the Mandel Foundation.

Winners include Christopher Stark, a Montana native who has won several nationally known commissions and is finishing his doctorate at Cornell University, (far left, pictured) for ‘Promontories: After Three Photos by Ansel Adams’ for chamber orchestra (Thursday, June 23, at 8:15 p.m. on the Festival Stage); Ethan Wickman, an assistant professor of music at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with strong ties to Utah’s music scene, will present the chamber composition premiere, ‘Winter’s Burst’ (Saturday, June 25, at 4 p.m. in the City Library Auditorium), and David Featherstone, a percussionist and composer who completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Utah, who is the fourth recipient of the festival’s jazz (Friday, June 25, at 8:30 p.m. on the Festival Stage).

MUSIC AND PERFORMERS’ HIGHLIGHTS

Kinetix and Young Dubliners: This year’s opening headliners on June 23 include Kinetix, a relatively new high-energy rock band from Denver that is gaining attention rapidly, will go on at 8:30 p.m. on the Amphitheater Stage.

Meanwhile, with almost two decades under its belt, the Young Dubliners, which was formed in the Los Angeles pub circuit by Dublin natives Keith Roberts and former member Paul O’Toole, will surely send festival fans into the popular ‘jig pits’ with their blend of Irish sounds and meaty rock jams when the band goes on the Amphitheater Stage at 9:45 p.m.

Ronnie Baker Brooks: Following in his father’s unforgettable footsteps (Lonnie), this young Chicago musician is adding his own generation’s mark to the legacy of Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, and others with inflections of soul, hip-hop and funk. He will perform Friday, June 25, at 9:45 p.m. on the Amphitheater Stage.

Maraca: Born in Havana, world-class virtuoso flautist Orlando ‘Maraca’ Valle is perhaps the best-known ambassador of Cuban popular dance music and Afro-Cuban jazz. He will perform Saturday, June 25, at 9:45 p.m. on the Amphitheater Stage.

Incendio: Hailing from Los Angeles, this Latin world fusion guitar ensemble offers a genius palette of musical influences counting Weather Report, Jimi Hendrix, XTC, Paco de Lucia, Buddha Bar and Joni Mitchell, to name a few. The ensemble will perform Saturday, June 25, at 9:45 p.m. on the Festival Stage.

Big Sam’s Funky Nation: Fans of HBO’s ‘Treme’ will readily recognize ‘Big Sam’ Williams, bandleader and trombonist from New Orleans. His band will close out the blockbuster festival with energetic, pulsing jazz with horn-heavy grooves that will reverberate long after the curtain comes down on this history-making event after the performance, which is Sunday, June 26, at 9:45 p.m. on the Amphitheater Stage.

Blame Sally: This all-woman San Francisco folk rock group has opened for Ani DiFranco and Roseanne Cash, launched a national radio campaign covering both AAA and non-commercial stations and has reached an audience of millions on XM Satellite Radio’s ‘Starbuck’s XM Café.’ This group will be a part of the Festival Stage lineup on Sunday, June 26, at 8 p.m.

Del McCoury Band: With a career spanning six decades whose music has touched everyone from Vince Gill to Phish and to Elvis Costello, McCoury released his first album in 1968 and became member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2003. The band’s latest release is a collaboration with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band called ‘America Legacies.’ The band closes out the Festival Stage on Sun, June 26, at 9:45 p.m.

OTHER FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

Local Music – More than 400 local musicians auditioned for spots on the festival’s extraordinary schedule and there will be more than 60 acts on five stages. Among the top acts will be Joshua Payne Orchestra (Friday, June 24, 10:15 p.m., Festival Stage), Fictionist (Saturday, June 25, 9 p.m., Park Stage), and The Rubes (Sunday, June 26, 9 p.m.). The UAF Youth Rock Ensemble featuring the best local teen musicians from Music Garage, Rest 30 Records, School of Rock and Wasatch Music Coaching Academy will perform Thursday, June 23, at 4 p.m. on the Park Stage.

Just Right – Works by 17 Utah artists, which have been curated by the Art at the Main store in the City Library Urban Room, are featured in an ongoing exhibition that runs through July 9.

The Art Yard – with the theme ‘Art is Elemental ‘ – will be open every day for children during the festival until 9 p.m. Along with the first children’s Fear No Film screenings, the venue also will feature the Target Mad Hatter interactive art project along with other make-and-take projects coordinated by Art Access/VSA Utah, Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake Art Center, Tracy Aviary, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and the Visual Art Institute. Also, returning is the Instrument Petting Zoo coordinated by the Summerhays Music Center, along with kids’ writing workshops in the Salt Lake Community College Writing Center.

Sixty-five independent short films from directors across the country and the world will mark the ninth annual Fear No Film offerings, rich in innovative programming based on the Nine Muses of Greek mythology. Nine films will compete in the 2010 Utah Short Film of the Year Competition. The lineup includes 15 films from Utah, 30 from other states in the nation, and 20 from 14 countries including four from New Zealand.

Two of the most recent Grand Jury Prize winners are back with new films. Canada’s Lyle Pisio, who won for his nine-minute animated short ‘The Empress,’ returns with ‘Wrecking Ball,’ also an animated piece set in a bar but, this time, the bartender fantasizes about what he would like to do to his customers. Eric Wobma, who won the Grand Jury Prize in 2009, is back with the exceptional 26-minute short ‘Oi’Clowns – An Homage To Federico Fellini.’ There were more than 400 submissions for this year’s slate.

Back for a fourth year, small plate gourmet offerings once again will be available at the festival’s Epicuriosity Tent, designed by Robert ‘Sully’ Sullivan of Utah Food Services and prepared by student chefs from the Art Institute of Salt Lake City. Also, Uinta Brewing Company has crafted Arts Fest Amber Ale especially for the festival. In addition, the brewery’s Crooked Line beers will be available for tastings as well as pairings with Epicuriosity dishes. Twenty other culinary vendors will provide a wide variety of foods during the festival.

Art Attack 5K run will be held Saturday, June 25, at 7:45 a.m. at Sugarhouse Park. The event, now in its 18th year, is expected to raise at least $15,000. More than 450 runners participated last year. Registration will be open until midnight June 23.

TICKET INFORMATION

Festival gates open at noon and close at 11 p.m. each day. Admission rates are the same as last year. Adult admission is $10 at the gate and $7 in advance. Adults 65 and over are admitted at $5. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Four-day passes are available for $30 and a ‘Y’all Come Back Pass,’ available at the exit gates, entitles guests to a 2-for-1 admission on a return visit – ideal considering the extensive breadth and depth of activities this year.

For those going to the festival Thursday and Friday between noon and 3 p.m., admission is $5. Discounts are available for those who ride their bikes to the festival.

Detailed schedules are available here.

And, look to The Selective Echo and to the Utah Arts Festival Web site throughout the next nine days for daily features and announcements about festival events.

And, stay tuned to The Selective Echo for wall-to-wall coverage and previews of the festival which moves into full gear tomorrow. The Selective Echo is joined by Max P. Dahl, an intern journalist from Utah State University, who is the blog’s assistant editor.

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