Art festival celebrates American spirit in Salt Lake City

Sugarhouse Arts Festival brings out the best of community art to celebrate the nation’s independence

            Thousands of people had the chance of celebrating American spirit in the Sugarhouse 4^th of July Arts Festival, that took place last July 4 in the Salt Lake City neighborhood of Sugarhouse.

            The event, organized by the Sugarhouse Chamber of Commerce, gathered different kinds of art and cultural events that brought the community together and fostered engagement and involvement on what American cities know how to do best: a vibrant neighborhood life.

            And evidences of this vibrant life could be seen on the activities held by the festival organizers.

            During the hours the festival was open, several different activities took place, such as a central stage, where local bands and musicians performed, a dog parade was conducted at 2100 South.

Also complementing the activities, food trucks were available for all those who were both in need of food and curious to try different flavors and aromas. All these combined with several new bars and restaurants that opened in the area over the past year.

Among the forms of art that were available at the festival, a special focus was giving to arts related to the urban scene. Elements of our daily life were present in the festival, providing us with the unusual and the curious when it comes to manifesting our own creativity.

Paintings on vinyl records were a major work shown at the festival. The works portrayed iconic cartoons and comic situations that revolve life and popular culture of the 21^st Century.

The use of elements of nature combined with classic painting were the major vectors on Sam Snow’s artworks. Combining wood and painting, the artist gave a different perspective on our relation with the nature that surrounds us.

            Pop art was also represented in the festival with interesting re-readings and works inspired by iconic brands and franchises, such as Star Wars of Pokemon, the famous Japanese videogame and cartoon that was a fever in the late 1990s.

            Justin Hillgrove, artist and member of The Hive Gallery, specialized in Pop Art, considers that kind of art as a way of relief from our daily life.

            “Our art is cheaper than therapy,” said Hillgrove.

            Besides arts, the festival was a major stand for political campaign aiming the next municipal elections, in November.

            Candidates like Mayor Ralph Becker, who is seeking a third term, and George Chapman had stalls in the neighborhood, trying to get support for the upcoming voting process.

            Chapman said he was against the streetcar expansion and he would halt it, if elected to the office.

This festival has been on for more than a decade, but this year it has gained more importance after the Sugarhouse Monument has been rebuilt and rededicated last June.

After the major change, the monument is fully walkable, allowing more people to walk through and allowing local business to expand their activities.

Tom Gilbert, Vice Chair and Chair of Events for the Sugarhouse Chamber of Commerce praised that the new monument was a major driving force to this year’s festival.

“The festival gets the whole community out. It gives a new perspective, it shows how walkable Sugarhouse is,” said Gilbert. He also mentions the fact the festival exalts all the qualities the neighborhood has when it comes to things to do.

“It shows people how cool the area is when it comes to eat, to go out, to shop and to have fun,” told Gilbert.

When asked whether the festival will be held in the years to come, Gilbert said it continue to be promoted in the future.

“This was the 16^th annual festival and they’ve all been a blast. They continue to grow every year and we continue to get great sponsors from the community,” said Gilbert.

Re-reading Peanuts in a pop art context (Photo: Gabriel Neves)

Sugarhouse monument is officially reopened in Salt Lake

Construction that took almost a year presents new features and community hopes for attracting more people and businesses into the neighborhood

Splash pad, one of the new features of the revitalized monument (Photo: Gabriel Neves)

            After almost one year of a major facelift, the Sugarhouse monument, located on the corner of Highland Drive and 2100 South in Salt Lake City, had its grand opening on Friday, June 12.

Among the activities held at the ceremony, there were ribbon cutting, live music with a band performance and the burial of a time capsule, which will be open in 2054, when the area celebrates its Bicentennial.

Topher Hormann, a member of the Sugarhouse Community Council, an association that represents the area and member of the time capsule team, was the main speaker in the burial ceremony and a huge supporter of the renovation projects. On an interview, Hormann said that “the dedication of the plaza is important, because of all the effort of these people, all the years planning and the investment made in public space, our community has created this new place with a new sense of place.”

Reconstruction of the monument began on August 2014, as part of an ambitious redevelopment program conducted by the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency that aimed to integrate residential and business areas. The total cost of the renovation was estimated in $2.5 million.

Among the new features of the Sugarhouse monument, there are a splash pad, where children can refresh during the hot Summer months, new gardens and a walkway that replaced the road stretch that drivers going on 2100 South could turn right on Highland Drive. In addition to the new features, the original water fountain, which was not working for years, has been restored.

Community leaders from the area were cheerful and hopeful the rebuilt monument could be the starting point of a more vibrant and walkable neighborhood.

Amy Berry, chair of the Sugarhouse Community Council, said that the impact of the monument “will be wonderful for gathering spaces” and she also hopes that possible events in the facility “will bring a real life back to the community.”

Berry also mentioned that, while the street passed where the new monument is, “you could not be a pedestrian there, people would run you down.”

With more pedestrian accesses built in Sugarhouse, members of the community give good expectations when it comes to a more extended use of public transportation.

Helen Peters, head of Friends of the S-Line, an organization that promotes the use of streetcar lines, expects the monument can foster and promote more use of the S-Line of TRAX.

  

“We are hoping that, as people see that Sugarhouse is becoming a more vibrant community, that they’ll take the S-Line to come visit our community,” said Peters.

Peters also told her organization also aims to increase the “economic, social and cultural development of Sugarhouse,” as well as the transportation in the region.

Around the monument, new restaurants and stores and a new apartment building have also been built, revitalizing that part of Sugarhouse.

Sugarhouse neighborhood time capsule, to be open in 2065 (Photo: Gabriel Neves)

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