Gallery Roll: August 2012

By Adele Flail

Welcome to Gallery Roll—CATALYST’s bike-focused guide to Gallery Stroll, helping you spare your feet—and avoid the nightmare of downtown parking—while getting your art fix. Pump up your tires, tighten your dork-straps, and get ready to roll at 6 this Friday night. This week features a loop trip with a southern excursion out of the main downtown cluster; itinerary after the jump.

Gallery Roll’s proposed route is here and, obviously, here:

1. Even if you decide to skip the rest of Gallery Stroll, you’ll still be able to see the Salt Lake sights at our first stop. Williams Fine Art (200 East South Temple) is featuring urban-themed oil paintings in the tradition of the Ashcan School, with canvases by local artists Angela Woods, Richard Hull, and Nick Rees among others— you’ll be able to find a mixture of Salt Lake’s beloved landmarks as well as aesthetically under-appreciated back alleys. For art viewers, the wilds of Utah might be more familiar fare— check out Rees ‘s“squeezealism” (no seriously—follow the link, you won’t be disappointed!)— but the images, from the realistic to the more whimsically colorful will help you appreciate the loved and not-so-loved urban spaces of your city like never before—especially as you breeze past them on your bike as you head off to our other stops.

Left to Right: Gateway, Nick Rees; Karrick Building, Richard Hull; Rare Books, Angela Woods.

2. Make your way over to North Temple, and roll on down to the Mestizo Institute of Cultural Arts (631 West North Temple) for Justin Johnson and friends’ graffiti-influenced show Ez Come, Ez go: Growing Up Through Graffiti chronicling the transformation from angry young punk rockers to active, contributing members in society striving to make a positive difference.

3. Next head south for a joint celebration: Spy Hop’s (200 South 500 West) summer Street Party and the 15th Annual Teen Workshop Exhibit, hosted by Art Access (230 South 500 West). The Street Party features music, interative activities, chalk art demos, food vendors, and lots of art, including the 15th Annual exhibit, the wrap-up show for this year’s Art Access 2012 Teen Art Workshop series. The workshops gave twelve students the chance to expand their artistic abilities under the guidance of a professional artist—with, for example, clay sculpture taught by Anne Gregerson or fused glass by Sarinda Jones—while meeting other arts-oriented teenagers from all around the Salt Lake Valley; come check out the work from Salt Lake’s next generation of artists and makers.

Art Access Teen Workshops

4. If you don’t feel like making the excursion south, you can head on to the next stop, but the trip south is well worth it. Judith Romney Wolbach’s show is opening at the Charley Hafen Jewelers Gallery (1411 South 900 East). (If you haven’t already, you can check out our interview with the artist here.) Wolbach began working in clay after retiring, but a series of unfortunate events led her to try her hand at a new medium. But for the artist, whose past experience encompases a master’s in anthropology, teaching, editiing, law school and nearly 25 years of law practice, reinvention is no challenge, and you can catch her debut efforts in oil painting as the talented sculptor embarks on a new challenge.

David Borba, The Wounded Bird Flys Again5. Finally, book it north to the Utah Arts Alliance Gallery (127 South Main Street) where you’ll find David Borba‘s Interactive Vintage-Inspired Folk Art Exhibit and opening reception. Borba uses acrylic, paper, metal, fabric, as well as hand-carving wood to create his folk-art, vintage-inspired pieces. And the art is meant to be experienced rather than simply seen: his interactive sculptures can be activated by gallery-goers with simple motions and mechanisms— a fun change from your stuffier “don’t touch the art” shows.

This article was originally published on August 16, 2012.