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Utah has an appetite for the arts, and people across the country are taking notice.
Artists from Utah and across the nation are inviting families to appreciate their work at the inaugural Salt Lake Art Show, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Mountain America Expo Center. This is Utah’s first indoor fine art and design event — while the state has a number of outdoor fairs, this is the first indoor show to blend fine art with design, live performance and cultural programming.
The Salt Lake Art Show is produced by Peaks Art Fairs, which also runs the Reno Tahoe International Art Show. COO Briana Dolan told the Deseret News that both shows challenge the traditional art fair model by supporting a variety of arts and making them accessible to everyone — even those with no foot in the art world. Everyone is invited to this show, she said.
“Fine art shows have this sort of stigma to them, and galleries and art in general,” Dolan said. “I think some people feel like it’s not open to them. But we have lots of things for kids happening over the weekend, and it’s a very family-friendly, exciting event.”
This weekend’s schedule includes live music, dance and theater performances; panels; and kids’ events. It showcases galleries, independent artists, sculpture, furniture and Native artists. Most presenters are from Utah, but many come from surrounding states and a few traveled across the country.
Dolan said Utah was the perfect spot for a show like this because the state has so many artists.
“Most of all we were attracted to Utah because of how unique it is as far as reverence for the arts, passion for the arts,” she said. “Salt Lake has a lot of really excellent outdoor festivals, but this would be the first indoor art fair.”
Why is Utah such a hot spot for the arts?
The arts and cultural production add approximately $9.6 billion to Utah’s economy. According to the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, 62% of Utahns reported attending live music, theater or dance performances, and 26% said they attended art exhibitions.
KayCee Stroh, a Utah-based dancer and actress known for the “High School Musical” series, said Utah is home to incredible talent because an appreciation for the arts is ingrained in its culture.
“One of the No. 1 things that I have heard from co-stars and visitors is how blown away they are by the support of the arts in Utah,” Stroh told the Deseret News.
“A lot of our kids do musicals, they do musical instruments, they paint, all those things. … A lot of that is because of parents taking their kids to things like this and to musical theater and the symphony.”
Stroh expressed her excitement at the first Salt Lake Art Show, which also served as the launch of X5, a global arts and festival platform. Stroh will head X5’s dance initiatives in Utah.
“This is the first of many amazing things to come,” she said.
Katie Willes, a painter from Sandy, Utah, has exhibited at the Reno Tahoe International Art Show for several years.
“I was so excited when (Briana Dolan) decided to branch out to Salt Lake,” Willes said. “The fine art scene in Utah is really vibrant.”
Willes pointed to Utah’s impressive collection of museums and galleries. Schools such as the University of Utah, Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University have prioritized the development of their art museums. The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in Salt Lake City features artists from both across the world and down the street. The Springville Museum of Art has showcased the fine arts since 1937. And hundreds of galleries in Park City, Provo, Salt Lake City and beyond feature a range of local and international artwork.
Willes said the Salt Lake Art Show showcases that local art presence but also allows guests to experience art from beyond Utah.
“It’s bringing in a lot of different artists from all across the country and some of the same people that you see in those galleries around here, but it is a taste of something different,” she said.
Indigenous art in the West
The Salt Lake Art Show is also unique because of its focus on cultural programming and Indigenous artwork, something Dolan said Peaks Art Fairs is intentional about showcasing.
“Sadly, it’s a shrinking art … so we really wanted to incorporate that into what we were doing,” she said. “We’re in the West and it is such a big part of where we are. We’re on Indigenous land.”
Levina Etsitty is a Navajo jewelry artist from Arizona who is presenting at the fair. She said artists sometimes hesitate to exhibit at the inaugural year of a show — when going into unknown markets and traveling far, expenses add up.
Etsitty decided to come to this one anyway because she loves Utah and wanted to take a chance, and she said she’s glad she did — few events showcase Indigenous artwork in the way Peaks Art Fairs does.
“When I saw that, I felt really honored, that we were a part of history here,” Etsitty said. “To be here and to be welcomed by everyone, our neighbors, I thought that’s really special.”
Filling the gap left by Sundance
The departure of the Sundance Film Festival leaves a space for film and performance art in Utah — one events like the Salt Lake Art Show and programs like X5 could fill.
While the 2026 program showcases dance and theater as performance art, the Reno show regularly screens films. Dolan said that’s something they hope to include in future Salt Lake shows.
“Our partnership with X5 will dive into that — it includes a whole film festival,” she said. “X5 is a very wide breadth of things happening, but the arts cluster includes dance, film and the art show. … We’ll try to integrate all pieces of the arts and film together.”
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