Studio '25

STUDIO '25

T H E O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F U TA H C O L L E G E O F F I N E A R T S

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Enrichment through sabbatical

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35mm film is back to the future

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Alvin Gittins’ art lineage

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The Impact of Gordon and Connie Hanks

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Annual Report thanks contributors

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he artists at the University of Utah are made of tenacious grit in addition to talent, determination, and vision. So often, what we share with the world are our finished works. Complete. Polished. Powerful.

What we appreciate about this publication, however, is that it gives a glimpse into the making, the behind-the-scenes, the love and care that goes into creating something out of nothing — whether a finished work or knowledge to be shared. We pull back the veil on our studios and classrooms to show how our spaces combined with our specialties and spirit become sway.

Because that — the manifesting and sharing of something new — is an act of courage, and one that can be mysterious to those of who don’t regularly engage in those processes.

See, facing a blank canvas, an empty theatre, a quiet concert hall, a room full of eager learners, or sheet music with lines but no notes are not endeavors for the faint of heart. They’re for the visionaries, the problem-solvers, the recorders of history, and the creators of culture.

Getting work ready for the world can be messy and challenging, but it’s the heart and soul of our work that takes us from inspiration to presentation.

It’s where and when the magic happens. And it’s our gift to you to share these vulnerable moments of generating and sharing the knowledge that makes the University of Utah College of Fine Arts a rich incubator of excellence and influence.

We hope you enjoy. ■

JOHN W. SCHEIB

Dean, College of Fine Arts

LETTER from the DEAN STUDIO / 2025

'25 THE PL ACE WHERE DILIGENCE AND EXCELLENCE BECOME INFLUENCE

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IN PURSUIT OF NEW KNOWLEDGE /

With dedicated time for research, faculty members’ sabbatical leaves accelerate discovery, serve communities, generate new knowledge, and inspire students.

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MORE THAN ART, MORE THAN TREATMENT /

The CFA launched a pilot suite of introductory Creative Arts Therapies courses, and the energy and interest was powerful.

SHINING BEHIND THE SCENES /

Theatre alumna Cara Pomeroy is now thriving as Pioneer Theatre Company’s first female technical director.

Photo: Photo courtesy of Satu Hummasti

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REDEFINING CARMEN /

Music’s Kirstin Chàvez’s powerful voice and groundbreaking opera “Carmen Inside Out” shined on stage at Kingsbury Hall.

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ETHNOMUSICOLOGY /

Raymond C. Morales Fellow Elisa Alfonso has brought new experience, interests, and interdisciplinary lenses to the School of Music.

FIRST STEPS /

For more than 15 years, the CFA has provided life-changing arts education to SLC’s Glendale neighborhood through University Neighborhood Partners Hartland Partnership.

Photo: Elisa Alfonso

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RAW AND RETRO /

What’s old is new again with the Department of Film & Media Arts’ resurgence of work with 35mm film.

MAKING DANCE, MAKING CHANGE /

The School of Dance’s celebration of Black History Month honored history, culture, and alumni.

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GIVING HEART AND SOUL /

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ANNUAL REPORT /

BEGINNING WITH GITTINS /

The presence and brilliance of legendary portraitist and painting professor Alvin Gittins’ lives on in those who he inspired to follow in his footsteps and those who get to learn from them.

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Gordon and Connie Hanks’ passions can be seen, felt, and most importantly, heard through their significant philanthropy.

It is with overwhelming gratitude that we name those who fuel the continued success of the College of Fine Arts with their generosity and philanthropy.

CONTRIBUTORS + THANKS

TABLE of CONTENTS

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Professor V. Kim Martinez on scaffolding while working

on a section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles

Photo courtesy of V. Kim Martinez

By Marina Gomberg

Beth Krensky at the art department where activist posters abound, Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil

Photo courtesy of Beth Krensky

Professor V. Kim Martinez

Photo courtesy of V. Kim Martinez

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or tenure-line faculty members at the University of Utah, research is part and parcel to the work. In addition to disseminating information, our researchers are hungry to explore, create, recreate, discover, analyze, and publish.

This pursuit of new knowledge is an important pillar of what faculty members at universities provide to their students, their communities, and the world at large.

Recognized by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, the University of Utah has the highest classification for research activity, designated as an R1. And the faculty members in the College of Fine Arts add to the body of creative and scholarly research profoundly.

Arts research — the generation, discovery, application, and integration of knowledge — takes many forms. It’s the premiere of a new choreographic work. It’s arts teaching and learning. It’s a new opera or symphony. It’s the set design of a play. It’s a mural made in and with community. It can also be distributed through traditional forms like textbooks, book chapters, research papers, and studies.

While the hum of research can always be felt and heard in the College of Fine Arts, the frequency and volume is amplified when faculty members apply for and are granted the unique gift of focus in the form of sabbatical leave.

The overall purpose of sabbatical leave is to increase faculty members’ scholarship and professional development by temporarily suspending teaching duties, thereby enhancing their capacity for continued research, teaching, and service. Leave of this type from academic duties is a privilege granted to afford the faculty member the opportunity for intensive study, investigation, and research.

Upon reflecting on her successful sabbatical, Associate Professor Kimberly Jew said it well: “I think what made the sabbatical work so well for me is that I had time to reflect on my writing projects. I had a bit of room inside my head to let ideas, questions, and thought process bounce around joyfully. It's truly a privilege to have time to think. Also, thinking and writing are inextricably connected: the more you think, the more you write, and the more you write, the more you think.”

We often get to see the fruits of our faculty members’ teaching endeavors, but this story goes beyond the classroom and studio. Here, we are getting a glimpse of the life and times of our faculty through their unique sabbatical experiences.

V. KIM MARTINEZ

Reflecting

Renowned muralist and Painting and Drawing Professor V. Kim Martinez is known for her large-scale, community-focused works that both involve and reflect the communities in which they exist. So, during her sabbatical from fall 2024 through spring 2025, she traveled the country from coast to coast in pursuit of connecting, making, learning, and ultimately using art as a mechanism for social change.

“Emerging from a Chicano art tradition, my work harnesses the power of art to reveal and critique societal issues,” Martinez said in an interview with Utah’s arts magazine, “15 Bytes,” before she had left for the residency. “My creative process is rooted in inquiry; I begin by posing critical questions that propel me on a journey of research and direct engagement with the individuals whose stories I aim to tell, employing iconography and symbols that resonate deeply within that context.”

Fueled, in part, by the University of Utah’s Presidential Societal Impact Scholar Award, Martinez completed two artist residencies, one in New York City with JVS Project Space and one with Los Angeles’ 18th Street Art Center.

The latter of which had two foci. The first was to create works for her series, “Tantalus,” which vibrantly reflects the impacts of industrial and human pollution.

The 13 smaller pieces she created in L.A. reflect the floods’ devastating impacts and embody the human resilience it will take to address them.

Her second focus was collaborating with the SPARC LA design team on new sections of the Great Wall of Los Angeles, the mural project started by Judith Baca in the 1970s that portrays the perspective of women and minorities. Martinez was able to both submit designs and collaboratively paint on sections designed by others, all while learning about new techniques and materials that she can bring back to the U and employ with her upcoming student mural project for Murray City. ■

Detail of “Blood Falls” by V. Kim Martinez, 4’x4’ painting about Antarctica and

climate change, completed while she

was in Los Angeles

“Emerging from a Chicano art tradition, my work harnesses the power of art to reveal and critique societal issues.”

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Hummasti volunteering in the town of

Catarroja after the flooding

Photo courtesy of Satu Hummasti

SATU HUMMASTI

Improvising

With the intention of developing a work called “Shore” that explores the changing relationship of our human bodies of water with earth’s bodies of water, Associate Professor Satu Hummasti, who teaches contemporary dance and choreography in the School of Dance, set off around the world for her yearlong sabbatical in fall 2024.

The interactive, multidisciplinary work includes dance, film, and installation and investigates our interdependence with water and coasts through a lens of arts ecology and sustainability, like much of Hummasti’s work.

“Shore” involved filming “small dance stories” and interviews with local people at various shoreline sites that hold personal and historical significance, with the intention of the project culminating in dance, film, and sound installation that involves multiple, simultaneous projections depicting these embodiments of “shore."

Hummasti began in the Nordic region, where she had a three-week guest artist residency at the Åland Archipelago Guest Artist Residency in Åland. The residency culminated in her showing “Shore/Baltic,” a first iteration of the project, at the Kökar Museum.

She then moved to Valencia, Spain, where she continued working on “Shore” and researching dance and improvisation as modalities to foster UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in relation 4

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to climate and social justice. Valencia was Green Capital of Europe 2024, so the move there, and working with institutions like the Observatorio del Canvi Climactic, gave important viewpoints to the project.

But on Oct. 29, 2024, everything changed when an historic flood devastated the region. Hummasti found herself living the phenomenon she was researching: the effects of climate change on human life. Bodies moving to help other bodies, this time though, in differently choreographed ways. She joined the thousands of volunteers — specifically working with the international group called Batallion Guirri and with World Central Kitchen — in destroyed villages, many of which were home to refugees from neighboring regions who had fled violence and sought safety.

Her flexibility to pivot ultimately expanded her preview on the topic.

“Our shoreline stories started to also explore what happens when a shore exceeds its boundaries,” Hummasti said. “And how the Mediterranean shorelines are tremendous flow points in the current refugee crisis.”

Plans to create and present “Shore” continue, and for Hummasti, new ideas around “Improvisation in Times of Disasters” have become a new focus. ■

Hummasti at the showing of “Shore /

Baltic” in Åland at the Kõkar Museum Photo courtesy of Satu Hummasti

“Our shoreline stories started to also explore what happens when a shore exceeds its boundaries.

And how the Mediterranean shorelines are tremendous flow points in the current refugee crisis.”

CRAIG CALDWELL

Understanding

From industry to academia, animation Professor in the Department of Film & Media Arts, Craig Caldwell, has been a groundbreaker. In addition to his role in the College of Fine Arts, he is a USTAR (Utah Science Technology and Research initiative) professor and co-founder of the Masters in Entertainment Arts & Engineering in the U’s Games program. He now lends his focus to better understanding how “an audience’s cultural storytelling traditions influence their response to a film’s narrative.”

Caldwell's sabbatical's goal was to illuminate how our Western/Aristotelian narrative tradition, with its emphasis on individual, character-focused stories, differs from Eastern narratives, which are more about character relationships (Kishōtenketsu).

His sabbatical, which spanned from fall 2022 through spring 2023 with the support of funding from the Institute of Animation and Creative Content (IACC) at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts (SIVA), provided fodder for both his research and, in surprising ways, his teaching. Collaborating with IACC provided introductions to some of Shanghai's cutting-edge digital media companies (i.e., Tencent, Shengqu Games, Pearl Studios) and ranked universities (Tongji University).

Though the pandemic shifted his initial plans to stay based in China longer, Caldwell's absorption of knowledge during his visit was monumental.

After speaking at European conferences on the differences in narrative structures due to cultural influences, he returned home to get a jumpstart on the second edition of his book "Story Structure and Development: A Guide for Animators, VFX Artists, Game Designers, and XR Creators" (Taylor & Francis/ CRC, 2025).

In addition to being a more informed researcher on media narratives, Caldwell sees how his deeper cultural understandings will influence how he relates to and shares knowledge with his students.

“I’ve come to recognize that we don’t all share the same foundational understanding of the world — something I once took for granted,” he said. “Our perspectives are shaped by different experiences and levels of background knowledge. As a result, I’ve become more intentional about clarifying concepts I used to assume were universally understood.”

Leave it to a film professor to capture the importance of lens. ■

“I’ve come to recognize that we don’t all share the same foundational understanding of the world — something I once took for granted.”

Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts

Photo courtesy of Craig Caldwell

Caldwell at Shengqu Games

Photo courtesy of Craig Caldwell

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“Sabbatical is an incredibly valuable time where when our schedules are freer from obligations to other duties, we can build significant momentum on our research.”

Lippard in front of the library at UNAM

Photo courtesy of Chris Lippard

CHRIS LIPPARD

Humanizing

Film & Media Arts Professor Chris Lippard has always been interested in better understanding the human condition, and film — especially film as a component of a larger interdisciplinary investigational projects — is one of the ways he’s explored the parts of humanity that interest him most.

His PhD dissertation in the mid 1990s focused on the impact of pain on creativity, and he has continued to find ways to investigate the complex relationships between human struggle and media.

During his two-semester sabbatical (fall 2024-spring 2025), which was funded by the College of Fine Arts, the Middle East Center, and the Center for Latin American Studies, Lippard dove deeply into research around the plights and portrayals of migrant humans, the understanding of how borders and mobility influence movement, and the ways we show the human experience through portrayals of animals in film.

He also remained steadfast in his service to the book series “Cinema and Media Cultures in the Middle East” for which he is the editor; as he is and has with the “Journal of Contemporary Iraq & the Arab World.”

“Sabbatical is an incredibly valuable time where when our schedules are freer from obligations to other duties, we can build significant momentum on our research,” he said.

And though it wasn’t scheduled to fit this within the magical sabbatical window, Lippard plans to travel to refugee camps in northern Africa in October to follow up on his previous research on the visual culture of the vibrant Sahrawi people. ■

Lippard in London

Photo courtesy of Chris Lippard

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Krensky walks a labyrinth in Oregon for her performance "The Trees Will Love Me and the Earth Will Hold Me" Photo: Matte Hanna

Krensky carrying an interactive social

sculpture at the opening of the “Adaptation” exhibition at the Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil

Photo: Courtesy of Beth Krensky

BETH KRENSKY

Loving

One can sometimes find Distinguished Professor in the Department of Art & Art History, Beth Krensky, with a chair strapped to her back as she makes a pilgrimage — not necessarily for show (though, the lucky get to witness), but as an act of love aimed at creating healing and wonder.

“I am a gathering of things — objects, words, spirit — and connector of fragments, to make us whole,” she said.

During her sabbatical, which spanned from fall 2024 through spring 2025, Krensky traveled around the world and across the country to exhibit and speak.

She also began the process of telling the stories of her life’s work using art as “a form of individual, interpersonal, or community liberation.”

Her research agenda is dedicated to creating art — some performance-based, some multi-media, and others tactile — that facilitates collective experiences as contemplative acts. A deep believer in the importance of using the arts as forces for love and healing, Krensky is invited to share her work all over the world.

Her series “Dispatch from Solitude” has faced questions about life and the courage required to

Krensky engaging with art education students at the Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil Photo: Courtesy of Beth Krensky

investigate the spaces where spirit and matter connect. The latter was the focus of her recently completed “Dispatch from Solitude #3: Pilgrimage to the Very Center,” which was a solo performance of her walking a labyrinth on the ancestral lands of the Tutuni people in Port Orford, Oregon.

“My work addresses pressing issues while providing a refuge — a free space — that allows participants to name themselves, envision a different reality, and engage in the re-making of their world,” she described.

She also recently returned from Manaus, Brazil in the Amazon, where she had work in the “Adaptation” exhibition and gave a talk entitled, “Social Practice Art: Art as Life” at the Centro de Artes at the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM). She also got to spend time with the students and faculty at UFAM, an institution that educates students from all over the Amazon, many of which are indigenous, to return to their communities to teach.

With her medium of love, Krensky’s art is a matter of heart and soul. ■

“My work addresses pressing issues while providing a refuge — a free space — that allows participants to name themselves, envision a different reality, and engage in the re-making of their world.”

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Schaefer performing with the Utah Symphony Photo courtesy of Donn Schaefer

DONN SCHAEFER

Playing

If we may toot his horn, Professor of trombone and head of the School of Music’s brass area, Donn Schaefer, was on sabbatical leave from fall 2024 through spring 2025, and made incredible use of his time.

From playing on three Broadway National Tours (“Funny Girl,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” and “Wicked,”) and with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the University of Oregon and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Schaefer immersed himself in the best of our local and national professional music opportunities, all of which provided fodder for him to be a better teacher, he says.

“Part of learning an instrument involves solitude and personal practice, but the reason most people get hooked on learning an instrument is the camaraderie with other musicians, challenge, and reward of playing for a live audience,” he said. “We need constant reminders of live performance to be able to relate to and inspire our students as they journey on their path towards being performing musicians.”

From the actual act of playing alongside prestigious professionals on tour, to experiencing the uses of new technologies, personally knowing what is happening in the professional space makes Schaefer an even greater asset to his students.

And in addition to his work as an active performer, he lent his time and energy to writing "Going Low: A Complete Guide to Switching to Bass Trombone” (working title), which will be a pivotal contribution to the field since everybody starts on the tenor trombone before taking up bass trombone, which is, as he says, “a completely different beast.” This milestone is one many players move through, but Schaefer’s text will be the first published on the topic.

Upon returning to teaching duties, it’s fair to say that Schaefer will be fine-tuned and ready to hit the right note. ■

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Photo montage of Donn Schaefer on on the stage of the Eccles Theatre (black and white) and behind (color) is the Wizard from the Broadway tour of “Wicked.”

Photo courtesy of Donn Schaefer

“Part of learning an instrument involves solitude and personal practice, but the reason most people get hooked on learning an instrument is the camaraderie with other musicians, challenge, and reward of playing for a live audience.”

KIMBERLY JEW

Honoring

It would be reasonable to assume, with as many which is an experimental play by Iranian playwright hats as she wears and as much as she produces, that Nassim Soleimanpour that invites non-actor Associate Professor Kimberly Jew has a sizeable community members to participate with no rehearsal head. With remarkably gentle ego, though, she holds or direction. She’s planning to direct Lauren Yee's appointments in both the Departments of Theatre “The Hatmaker's Wife” at Westminster University this and Ethnic Studies and has managed to publish four coming fall. unique articles during her sabbatical leave during the She deeply valued the chance to think and write 24/25 academic year, among other accomplishments. while sitting alongside her convalescing father, a If we think about theatre as an exercise in workaholic surgeon who had been her inspiration portraying humans that are not us and stories that to become a professor when she was young and are not always ours, it makes sense that success often struggling. He once wrote a letter to her during her requires theatre-makers to investigate and understand graduate school days that the chance to write an the cultural context of a character’s existence. These article, book, or play was absolutely worth pursuing processes are important for accuracy, respect, and because the writing would last forever. legitimacy, and Jew has long written on a variety “I don't know if any of my writing projects will of topics exploring the intersections of feminism, quite last forever,” she said. “But it's a nice thought.” postcolonialism, theatrical experimentation, and She’s right. It’s unclear how long these faculty ethnic identity. members’ contributions to the world will last; With pieces in “Frontiers, a Journal of Women knowledge, interpretation, art-making, and texts Studies,” “Theatre and Performance Notes and ultimately shift like the desert sands. But it’s Counternotes,” “Pacific Coast Philology” (PAMLA abundantly clear just how impactful these efforts are Journal), and “The Routledge Guide to Absurdist right now and, hopefully, for the foreseeable future. ■ Literature,” Jew has been able to add valuable contributions to the important intersection of theatre, form, and identity.

She was also contracted to co-edit a large 40-essay volume of theatre and dance essays, focusing on women's leadership in the performing arts. The volume, titled “Volume 4: Leaders”, is part of a 4-part series titled “Women’s Innovations in Theatre, Dance, and Performance” which will be published by Bloomsbury Press.

And in her spare time, she was also part of producing the play “White Rabbit/Red Rabbit” at the Salt Lake Acting Company (Making Space for Artists),

Kimberly Jew

“I don't know if any of my writing projects will quite last forever, but it's a nice thought.”

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RED EFI NI NG

CARM E N

BY MERRIT T MECHAM

D

◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌ ◌

uring rehearsal for “Carmen Inside Out – The Live Concert,” singer and co-creator Kirstin Chávez got an alert from her smart watch: Should it call 911? It turns out Chávez had gotten so involved in her performance and had put so much passion and effort into it, her elevated heart rate sent her watch’s sensors reeling.

Chávez, Professor and Artist in Residence at the U’s School of Music, is a vibrant, passionate performer, which is why she’s perfect for playing the titular role in Bizet’s “Carmen.”

Set in southern Spain, the opera tells the story of Don José, who falls for Carmen after she is brought to a prison where he’s a guard. José lets Carmen escape and takes the fall, and Carmen, impressed by his sacrifice, waits for him and pledges her love. When he is released, they take up as lovers. However, José is unaccustomed to Carmen’s lifestyle and social freedom and grows increasingly bitter and jealous. They break up. When they see each other again, José begs Carmen to return to him. When she refuses, he stabs her.

Over her career, Chávez has performed Carmen at the Sydney Opera House and the Arena di Verona among many others. It is her speciality. Chávez deeply loves the opera and the character — and her deep knowledge of the text supports her opinions of the character. “She is her own woman,” says Chávez. “And in the very best of ways, she is used to living life with a freedom that most women… don’t experience. She is true to herself. She loves life. She is generous and warm and inviting and charismatic... She’s passionate and she loves without feeling the need to give excuse.”

Which is why it felt deeply wrong whenever she’d be asked to portray Carmen as nothing more than a seductress deserving of death. “You can imagine that if she’s played as some sort of prostitute-like character who’s nasty, everybody watching is going to think, oh, she deserved to be killed.” Chávez said. And, indeed, many productions have portrayed the character that way. “There was a need to basically make her somehow less, base, easier to understand. She must be nasty and that’s why she’s killed. But isn’t that a horribly, grossly simplistic way to portray a terribly complex, interesting, deep, rich character?”

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Chávez recalls one production where she found the interpretation of the character particularly reprehensible. “At the end of the show in this version, José slits Carmen’s throat — doesn’t stab her — he slits her throat… When my throat was slit, the audience laughed.”

Not only was this performance challenging for Chávez, but she also felt angry on behalf of the audience. “I also felt so upset that the audience was given this version of things where Carmen’s death was justified and basically celebrated… I felt that [the audience members] were cheated.”

When Chávez was invited to re-imagine the opera with Stage Director Johnathon Pape, she said “I jumped at the chance. I was ready because… these things had already been festering in my brain for years.” Her version of “Carmen” would showcase the character as Chávez saw her, based on her observations from the source material.

With “Carmen Inside Out,” Chávez centers Carmen’s story to not only present feminist perspective but to inspire the audiences to live with the same vivacity and freedom that the character does.

Kirstin Chávez as Carmen in “Carmen Inside Out” Photo: Mr. Eguchi

Now, in 2025, “Carmen Inside Out” has been performed all over the world to great success. But Chávez and her collaborators want to expand the project so that it can reach a wider audience, including those right here in Utah.

Executive Producer and Visiting Assistant Professor James Bobick explained that they developed Carmen’s true character by taking inspiration from what a film portrayal of her could look like. “It was with the medium of film in mind that we produced the live performance in Kingsbury Hall on January 9, 2025,” he said, which ultimately provided Chàvez’s vocal students with the opportunity to perform classic repertoire alongside professionals. Working again with Pape, Chávez used the one-woman show as the framework for a version of “Carmen Inside Out” that featured a cast of thirteen.

For this special performance, officially called “Carmen Inside Out – The Live Concert,” Chávez brought in two colleagues with whom she has performed “Carmen” many times: Richard Troxell (as Don José) and Luis Ledesma (as Escamillo). “That’s how we conceived of this live concert performance that we did on January 9th,” Chávez said. “It was partially to give my dear friends the opportunity to shine as the gifted, incredible humans, artists that they are, and partly to give some of our students a very unique, wonderful, amazing opportunity to perform this opera with professionals.”

And it was an amazing experience. U Student Rocio Valle Lucero, who performed in the concert as Frasquita, said that it was “like a live, intense masterclass.”

“Seeing these professionals on stage and at the same time performing, rehearsing, and spending time with them encouraged and taught me how to be a better singer and performer,” she said.

Student Sam Plumb, who performed as Remendado, loved the opportunity to perform at such a professional level. “I enjoyed the rapid pacing of the rehearsal process; everybody prepared so that we were able to stage the show in less than a week, which is a lot faster than I am accustomed to,” he said. “I think this may also have been the largest orchestra I have performed with, given that Dr. Baldwin was conducting the full version of the score in the pit. That was awesome to experience!”

Which, yes — Dr. Robert Baldwin and the U Philharmonia got to be involved as well. “The chance for our orchestra students to perform with the professional singers for ‘Carmen Inside Out’ was invaluable,” said Baldwin. “Our students got to experience firsthand a professional environment, from the rehearsal schedule to the production quality. We always talk about it, but this gave them a chance to live it.”

“Carmen Inside Out – the Live Concert” was a thrilling night, and a chance to experience “Carmen” the opera in a more accessible setting. “I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that the performance that we were able to give was essentially a dream come true for me,” said Chávez. “It was the convergence of two very important worlds, my performing world, which I’ve been enjoying a 25-year career at this point, and the convergence of my teaching world, having my own students on stage with me, getting to share with them in an intimate way. [It’s] what I so, so love about being an artist in this world.”

Chávez continues to find ways to bring Carmen’s story to audiences all over. “This story is timeless,” says Chávez. “If it is told well, if you have a production where the characters are actually three-dimensional real characters, then the audience cannot help but fall in and feel these things.” And, just like Carmen, Chávez has the passion and wherewithal to make that come to pass. ■

"This story is timeless...If it is told well, if you have a production where the characters are actually threedimensional real characters, then the audience cannot help but fall in and feel these things."

World famous flamenco dancer Sol “La Argentinita” Koeraus (left) and professional actor Gustavo Salazar (right) who played Gustavo pose backstage.

Photo: Courtesy of Kirstin Chávez

Kirstin Chávez as Carmen in “Carmen Inside Out” Photo: Mr. Eguchi

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s r i F t S te p s

McIntyre-Martinez leads young people at the

Glendale-Mountain View

Community Learning Center in an energetic kinesthetic

warm up focusing on handeye coordination.

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By Julia Lyon

W

hen the dance lady came to the Hartland Apartments, Abdullahi Mberwa and his friends always showed up. They wanted to dance and play drums with this energetic woman who taught twice a week at their Glendale apartment complex.

Kelby McIntyre-Martinez did dance, but she also listened to what they wanted to do and learn. She kept showing up and the kids did, too.

“She’s one of my role models to this day,” said Mberwa, now 31.

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For more than 15 years, the University of Utah College of Fine Arts has brought arts education opportunities to children living in Glendale. McIntyre-Martinez, now the Associate Dean for Arts Education & Community Engagement, is among the hundreds from the U — including faculty, staff, and students — who have taught, organized, and collaborated with Glendale kids in dance, drama, music, and the visual arts.

Those classes first took place at what was then known as the Hartland Apartments. Then they moved to the University Neighborhood Partners Hartland Partnership Center next door, the Glendale-Mountain View Community Learning Center, and Glendale Middle School.

The ongoing partnership benefits not only K-12 students, but also U students who enhance their teaching skills while working with students from a variety of backgrounds. But the College of Fine Arts isn’t the only U group supporting newcomers.

Since 2004, the College of Social Work has been a key partner too, sending over 80 students to UNP Hartland to support kids and families. During this time, students and faculty from other parts of the U including the College of Education, College of Law, Occupational Therapy, the U’s Service Corps, the Justice Advocacy Fellowship, and the College of Nursing have also come to Glendale to work in partnership with residents and other local partners.

“It’s a way for the kids we’re working with to learn from many different kinds of people, and that shapes who they are as they grow up in our community,” said Jennifer Mayer-Glenn, Director of University Neighborhood Partners. “Students from the university have an opportunity to engage with kids and families that maybe they wouldn’t have otherwise, and that allows us as a society to care about each other more and understand each other more.”

BFA Theatre Teaching Student, Alia

Acosta, leads a theatre lesson focusing on telling a story about nocturnal

animals and their habitats. Acosta is a CFA Intern at the Community

Learning Center, which allows students invaluable opportunities to apply the

knowledge and skills they are learning at the U authentically alongside community partners.

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Students use their imaginations to create and bring characters to life

A Commitment to Community

A Fusion of Talents It was 2008 when Michael Hardman, then Dean of the College of Education, thought McIntyre-Martinez, with her background as an arts educator and choreographer, might be the perfect person to work with kids at Hartland. Their parents, immigrants and recently resettled refugees, were taking English and citizenship classes in the afternoon. Their kids needed something to do.

So they danced with “Miss Kelby.” Acted out stories and sang. Middle and high school students filled her classes first, until the younger children and siblings announced it was their turn, and the program grew.

Whether it was dancing to a new song from Ghana or exploring a student’s new hobby like percussion, the kids’ interests often shaped what they did. What had begun as a way to keep kids busy became a fusion of talents and people from around the world.

“I was learning from the young people and the young people were learning from me,” McIntyreMartinez recalled.

One of those was Mberwa.

“I would go and participate and would forget about what was going on at home or going on outside,” he said.

“It was an escape from everything.”

Mberwa was 9 years old when he came to Utah as a refugee from Somalia. As he grew up, he kept coming back to Hartland, even working as a youth coordinator at UNP Hartland from 2018 to 2021. He noticed that when “Miss Kelby” appeared, kids did, too.

“We had the most kids show up on that day because of her,” he said.

Benefiting All Ages

“I was learning from the young people and the young people were learning from me.”

Finding Time for Arts

Mberwa and McIntyre-Martinez

Some students are so busy during the school year Over the years, McIntyre-Martinez and some of the focusing on reading and English that they can’t take Glendale kids performed all over including on the advantage of all the arts at school, said P.E. teacher Lucas University of Utah campus. For some, it would be their Tucker, who coordinates after school and summer school first time there — but not their last. programs at Glendale Middle School.

Some of her former students enrolled at Salt Lake Summer school gives them time to explore. Tucker Community College and the University of Utah, remembers how, one summer, U students taught kids receiving associate and four-year degrees in nursing, ukulele and songwriting. business, education and arts education.

“The kids were so proud of themselves,” Tucker said.

For McIntyre-Martinez, it’s proof the partnership is “They learned these chords, learned how to play and could making a difference. go home and show their parents.”

“All children deserve a high-quality arts experience The College of Fine Arts partnership provides where they can have a space to be creative, think Glendale students with after school activities that their critically, problem solve, and collaborate with humans parents might not have the means or time to support, from across the globe,” she said. “And that’s what the explained Keri Taddie, the Community Learning Center programs at Hartland and Glendale are to me. That’s Coordinator. why I continue to go back.”

“If our students are going to have the kind of On a recent afternoon, Mountain View Elementary experiences that we know are important for all children students danced with McIntyre-Martinez in the to have access to, they are going to have to happen here,” community learning center.

They created body percussions, swishing their hands she said.

“Our middle school students are old enough to and stomping their feet. Then she introduced Alia Acosta, a University of Utah sophomore getting a degree stay home alone in the summer or after school, but they choose to come to the arts programs instead. in theatre teaching.

They’re staying because they want to be engaged in “Have any of you daydreamed before?” Acosta asked the students. “We’re going to play with our imagination!” something, something healthy,” Taddie said. “It’s creating opportunities that speak to our students and Teaching in Glendale is a “huge” benefit to her, their backgrounds and validates who they are, rather than Acosta said. expecting them to assimilate.”

It’s in Glendale where she can test ideas and Some College of Fine Arts students come to Glendale teaching plans, while working with a wide variety of in the summer to do visual arts with kids through a students, some of whom may be learning English. program called ArtsBridge.

The U students offer Glendale kids an opportunity ArtsBridge director Kerri Hopkins knows her U to discover new things and build upon their talents, students will receive immediate — and honest — interests, and strengths. feedback from kids.

Sometimes what the U students discover is that their lessons don’t work, so they have to adjust their teaching plans.

“It’s making them better teachers,” Tucker said.

While the college students are learning, Glendale kids are learning more about college and what students do there.

“They’re at an age where a lot of them feel open to ask them questions,” Hopkins said. “They can see that people from the University value them and want to work with them.”

Giving Them Hope

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All photos by Brandon Cruz

Mberwa is driving trucks these days, but dreams of opening his own barbershop. That dream began at UNP Hartland after the center bought a set of clippers.

Mberwa started cutting kids’ hair.

“Miss Kelby” and the U programs in Glendale are changing lives, he said.

“Kids seeing students in college working toward something gives them hope,” Mberwa said. “It makes you realize you can make it, too.” ■

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Taolue Zhong during a moving portrait session in the 35mm filmmaking class

Photo: ALSO Sisters

THE U’S RESURGENT EXPLORATION OF 35MM FILM

By Merritt Mecham

I

n 2025, if you were to walk into a trendy store like Urban Outfitters, you may not expect to find old-school film cameras on display or see Kodak t-shirts hanging nearby. Now that many people have high-quality digital cameras readily available on their phones, turning back to the days of physical film (with its drawbacks) might dumbfound some.

But at the U’s Department of Film & Media Arts, revisiting traditional filmmaking is a vital part of creating bright futures for students.

This year, the Department of Film & Media Arts launched a 35mm Filmmaking class, taught by Assistant Professors Miriam & Sonia Albert-Sobrino (the twin sister filmmaking duo known as the ALSO Sisters). In this class, students set aside their digital cameras to learn the intricacies of shooting and handling 35mm film.

35mm film was originally created by Kodak and was long considered the standard for filmmaking; even now with digital filmmaking, the size and resolution of feature-film images still reflects that of 35mm film.

The larger cultural trend of nostalgia and vintage — see Kodak t-shirts and 35mm Urban Outfitters cameras — has somewhat seeped into the film industry, though opposing forces (such as AI) remain strong.

“Nonetheless, prominent directors such as Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan, and Quentin Tarantino continue to advocate for photochemical filmmaking, helping to keep the medium relevant,” said Miriam Albert-Sobrino.

“And not just preserved but thriving. Recent projects like Robert Eggers’ ‘Nosferatu,’ shot on Kodak 35mm, and ‘The Brutalist,’ filmed on VistaVision… exemplify the industry’s commitment to tangible, handcrafted techniques.”

There are a variety of reasons that filmmakers would choose 35mm film over digital. The top reason, many would say, is aesthetic superiority. “35mm film

has a rich, organic image quality with a natural grain and texture,” said Sonia Albert-Sobrino. “It has great highlight retention and dynamic range, which helps capturing subtle details in both the highlights and shadows. It offers a timeless look that digital formats can try to replicate but struggle to match, even with AI.” Last year’s film “Twisters,” directed by alumnus Lee Isaac Chung (MFA ‘04), was shot on 35mm film, a decision supported by executive producer Steven Spielberg. And while analog film can pose certain risks, the film’s Director of Photography, Dan Mindel said in an article published on Kodak Motion Picture’s blog that 35mm often gave them distinct advantages when working in variable weather (“Digital cameras can’t really take mixed light very well, especially when skin tones are involved. Film gives you a lot more freedom over your lighting and aesthetic choices,” he said) to integrating special effects (“The forgiving softness of film really helps blend them into the final image to deliver an engaging experience for the audience.”)

In a way, celluloid filmmaking is to digital filmmaking as oil painting is to digital art. Both techniques can create beautiful art, but it makes sense that someone would prefer the texture and detail of a physical medium.

However, also similarly, physical mediums do have drawbacks. Film stock, like canvas and paints, can be expensive, and often require more time to create as well as necessitate specialized training. And, Sonia says, “the environmental impact of 35mm film is, unfortunately, higher than that of digital, due to the chemical processing involved and the disposal of film, both of which contribute to waste and water consumption.”

In many ways, these drawbacks were central in forming the class. “The course places special focus on careful planning and efficiency in shooting to minimize

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waste and reduce costs,” said Miriam. “By being more thoughtful about the number of takes and encouraging pre-visualization, students learn to be economical.” Before shooting on film, students perform test shoots using digital cameras, which also gives them the chance to compare the mediums and better understand their differences.

Additionally, many of the class activities deal not with shooting new film, but with simply handling it. “We immerse students in hands-on camera-less techniques, where they manipulate and reuse 35mm prints to create their own titles or films by drawing or animating directly on the film strips,” said Sonia.

“This approach not only provides them with an additional skill and career path to explore but is also sustainable practice.”

Students can also gain additional experience by taking the 16mm Filmmaking class. Though 16mm film isn’t as widely used in feature films as 35mm, it is commonly used for television and has a rich history of use in independent and experimental filmmaking.

And, due to the smaller frame size, it’s a more affordable option. For a student interested in cinematography, “Standard 16mm and 35mm are just the beginning,” said Professor Kevin Hanson, Interim Chair of the Department of Film & Media Arts. “A really good cinematographer should be aware of all the film formats and the popular digital formats as well.”

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35mm filmmaking students at work

Photos: ALSO Sisters

gear?’ Being able to say yes to these questions is There are also modern advancements that make using analog film more digital-friendly, said Miriam. crucial for positioning them competitively in the job market after graduation,” said Miriam. “Education in “While the ubiquity and affordability of digital this course places students in a privileged position.” filmmaking led to a more judicious use of 35mm, it Which is why, in this case, looking to film’s analog also helped make many processes associated with analog filmmaking more affordable — think editing, history is one way in which the Department of Film color grading, telecine (transferring film into another & Media Arts is setting students up for successful format), scanning, and image projection — ultimately futures. “Being able to claim 35mm experience is a great thing for a young filmmaker, especially if they creating a hybrid workflow that allows filmmakers to look to cinematography as a profession,” said Hanson. take more creative risks.”

“Professionals respect the medium and the variety And it’s not just the workflow. Learning 35mm of experience.” enhances students’ proficiency with the artistic “We view this course not as a journey into the past, medium of film, and to think more like artists. but as an opportunity to embrace timeless, proven Working with 35mm film, Sonia says, “fosters a technologies that enhance students’ CVs and make heightened sense of creativity and experimentation them more competitive in the film industry,” said the that informs their digital work. In today’s industry, Sobrinos. “It provides them with the knowledge and where lens-based processes are evolving and skills that are increasingly rare in today’s digital era, embracing generative artmaking, understanding offering a unique advantage as the industry continues how 35mm film looks and behaves visually enables students to create digital work (whether lens-based or to evolve.” ■ generative) that feels more cinematic and registers as authentic to the audience.”

Digital cinematography is still the standard, and that likely won’t change — but for students, especially those interested in careers as cinematographers, experience with 35mm will have distinct advantages.

“Have you ever loaded a 35mm motion picture camera? or ‘Have you ever worked with 35mm motion picture

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The School of Dance celebrated Black history last February in a firstof-its-kind event showcasing new choreography and screendance by black artists.

BY JULIA LYON

From “Fever Dream” by Joshua Whitehead Photo: Todd Collins

“A

NEW: A Black History Month Celebration” brought together both School of Dance alumni and choreographers in the community.

“We’ve done things in celebration of Black History Month, but I don’t believe we’ve done a full concert celebrating Black artists,” said Pamela Geber Handman, professor at the School of Dance who has been on the faculty for 25 years.

Undergraduates across the School of Dance, including ballet and modern dance majors and minors, from first years to seniors, performed new works by Adesola Akinleye, Natosha Washington, and Joshua Whitehead.

Two dance films by Irishia Hubbard Romaine, a School of Dance MFA alumna, were also shown.

“As a School of Dance, our goal is to bring in guest teachers and presenters who are going to share experiences about art making with our students that are not the same as the faculty,” Geber Handman said. “Our mission is to expand and educate.”

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TELLING THE STORY IN A NEW WAY

Choreographer Adesola Akinleye’s, “Act II Arrival,” is the second act of a larger story ballet, “Sycorax’s Tempest,” based on William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”

“Their work is so perfect in terms of ANEW,” Geber Handman said. “It’s looking at ‘The Tempest’ from a different perspective and telling the story through dance.”

Akinleye’s work reimagines the story through the eyes of the witch and mother, Sycorax, while exploring ideas from Caribbean feminist scholar and writer Sylvia Wynter. On a cold February day, students en pointe rehearsed the piece, falling and rising between long pieces of fabric, as the Sycorax brought an island to life.

“I want to choreograph movement that the dancers can speak through,” Akinleye said. “I think it’s important we have a kind of shared sense of ownership of what the piece is so the dancers feel as if they are creating something with me.”

Akinleye strives to make works that “tell about the brightness of the range of people involved in ballet.”

“For ballet to have a future, it needs to avoid telling the stories of a tiny group of people, over and over again,” said Akinleye, Assistant Professor of Dance at Texas Woman’s University. “There are a lot of people who contribute to ballet and their stories of lives and loves are complicated and varied.”

"WE HAVE TO FOCUS ON THIS LIGHT AND NOT BE AFRAID OF IT."

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Autumn Ryskoski in “Act II: Arrival” by Adesola Akinleye, costume design by Christopher Larson Photo: Todd Collins

SHINING A LIGHT Natosha Washington, choreographer, dance educator, and Assistant Principal at East High School, described her new work, “Towards Light,” as rooted in the belief that everybody has a light inside that should not be hidden.

“I think right now, with what’s happening in the world, we have to focus on this light and not be afraid of it,” said Washington, who was the 2024 recipient of the College of Fine Arts Distinguished Alumni award for her work as an arts educator.

“Towards Light,” a modern contemporary piece, uses an excerpt from a piece of music composed by Travis Lake, a fellow alumnus.

Mechanical sounds punctuate the narration, which is reflected in the choreography throughout the work.

“There’s a light inside of you,” a voice says. “And that light scares them.”

Washington was a student in one of the first classes Geber Handman taught.

“Natosha’s work is always very visceral, emotional and raw at times,” Geber Handman said. “She has a gift for inspiring honesty and vulnerability in her performers.”

Washington was excited to be included in ANEW, the first time she’s worked with U students in about five years.

Over the past few years, she’s been invited to participate in conversations about how to make the U a welcoming place for all students.

“I’ve watched a lot of significant changes happening at the U and it’s not just talk,” she said. “It’s beautiful to see.”

Joshua Whitehead in rehearsal at the U Photo: Todd Collins

DANCE ON THE BIG SCREEN

THE DREAM WITHIN A DREAM

Joshua Whitehead re-staged the contemporary ballet, “Fever Dream,” the sequel to his “Whispers of the Sandman (2023).” The story takes place within a dream and includes all the possibilities a dream can contain from darkness to illumination.

Creating the work, with movement styles ranging from hip hop and modern to classical ballet, was a full circle moment for the choreographer.

“For me, it’s anew — it’s starting and continuing my journey as a choreographer,” said Whitehead, who also composed the music for the piece. “There’s a lot of new beginnings that started here.”

Whitehead first came to Utah in 2009 for a Ballet West summer intensive located at the University of Utah. That led to him becoming a trainee and eventually joining the main company.

He created “Whispers of the Sandman” two years ago, during his last season as a demi-soloist with Ballet West.

The piece was later set on the workshop dancers of artÉmotion.

He reflected on the success of Black choreographers in Utah and the increased opportunity to choreograph in all genres.

“It’s awesome to see that we all have a platform, a place where we can express ourselves through means of choreography,” he said. “And that people who are asking us to choreograph or set things are not asking us just to create something African or set to African music.”

He says every time he choreographs is a learning experience.

“You learn how to lead better, how to communicate better. You learn patience, and you learn that everyone has their own learning capacity.”

ANEW showcased dance on film, featuring two recent works by MFA alumna Irishia Hubbard Romaine, who also received a screendance certificate from the School of Dance.

“Irishia has done really amazing work,” Geber Handman said. “Screendance is yet another way in which to tell stories through dance and movement.”

The film, “Unearthed,” builds on Romaine’s archival work, which involves developing a database cataloging Black dance on film from the late 1800s to the 1900s.

“Part of my research is unearthing and recovering Black dance on film,” said Romaine, Assistant Professor in the Department of Dance at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. “I’m tracing and piecing together histories that have been fractured and erased.”

“Unearthed” (2023) intersperses archival footage with reimagined Black figures from the past. “Red Line” (2022) explores the resilience of a Black woman and how the fight/flight response takes bodily form. Romaine directed and edited both.

“I think the School of Dance does an excellent job of bringing in a wide range of guest artists who are actively engaged in the field,” Romaine said. “I feel honored to be included in this lineup. Each of us brings something unique to the U’s dance community.”

From “Towards Light” by Natosha Washington Photo: Joshua Whitehead

COMING TOGETHER Geber Handman hopes that at ANEW audience members immersed themselves in the concert’s storytelling and learned something new.

“Right now in the world, I think it is imperative that we are in community with one another,” she said. “Coming to a live performance such as this one is the bedrock for hearing one another’s stories and perspectives and an opportunity to continue finding joy.” ■ 23

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BEGINNING WITH GITTINS THE MASTER, THE DISCIPLE, AND THE FAN CLUB A zoom in on a hand in Alvin Gittins' portrait of Theatre’s C.

Lowell Lees, which hangs in Pioneer Memorial Theatre foyer

Photo: Hui Zheng

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Painting by Pam Beach entitled “The

Youngest” 36” x 48” (2024); recently on

By Marina Gomberg

O

ne of Hui Zheng’s favorite pieces of art on campus is a portrait of former theatre professor C. Lowell Lees that hangs in the lobby of Pioneer Theatre Company. It’s the brush strokes of the hands that mesmerize him most.

Like so many in our region, painting and drawing student Zheng has a deep reverence and appreciation for the work of former portraitist and University of Utah painting professor Alvin Gittins, whose work featured the likeness of Utah’s ecclesiastic, political, financial, and educational leadership.

Zheng’s understanding of Gittins’ brilliance has been enlivened by his mentor: Associate Professor, John Erickson, who’s one of Gittins’ self-identified “disciples,” and the person who ultimately helped Zheng define his educational path.

See, this is a story of learning lineage. Of pedagogical pedigree. Of the power one person’s passion and brilliance can have on those skillful enough to absorb it and then spark that fire in another.

Erickson, who has been teaching at the U since 1983, started as a student back in the 1970s and took his first class from Alvin Gittins in 1973.

He described Gittins as a virtuoso and a generous professor — tall and always dressed aristocratically, teaching in a room with only natural light, his cigarette smoke wisping up around him and pluming into the shadow. Given the smorgasbord of modernist art at the time, Erickson gravitated toward Gittins’ masterful realism and ardent understanding of and respect for human anatomy.

“Gittins was a specifist. He taught something anatomically specific and then he bathed that in chiaroscuro [the dramatic use of light and shadow] — which he talked about constantly. Then he brought in the use of color vibration and how that impacted the flesh tones of the figure,” Erickson said. “Learning from Alvin was an ongoing enfoldment of what he knew.”

Like many of Gittins’ devotees, Erickson was less interested in manifesting his own vision at first. For three years, he was fully willing to surrender to absorb Gittins’ “mastery that was magical” before making his own stylistic departure — which, it should be noted, has made Erickson a revered and celebrated painter in his own right.

Painting graduate student Pam Beach, who has worked with Erickson for the last two years, notes that while Erickson doesn’t paint like Gittins, “that strong understanding of anatomical structure is evident.”

She and other current students still benefit from the cadavers and skeletons in the department that Gittins had brought in during his time, along with Erickson’s sharing of form’s importance. And while structural understanding is vital, Beach is guided by Gittins’ quote that “Painting is not to intimate, but to explicate.”

view at the AXA show in New York

Zheng articulated this same magic in both Erickson’s and Gittins’ works as he communicated the difference between being a “human printer” versus truly seeing and replicating another person’s very essence.

“As a new student, we think we want to draw what’s in front of us really accurately, picture-like,” he said. “That takes technique, but anyone can do it. A good portrait isn’t drawing from reference; it’s drawing from life.”

Zheng says the most important thing he’s learned from Erickson about figurative painting is to balance focus on carpentry (the physical body) and the theatrical (the emotions, psychology, and drama).

Like Gittins, Erickson’s generosity as an educator is deeply appreciated by his mentees. His willingness to spend dedicated time with each student is a proud carryover from what he received from the master himself, who would do demos with each student over the period of a semester, so they walked away with individualized learning and a Gittins work just for them.

To this day, Erickson will take students to any number of Gittins’ works across the University of Utah campus (and there are many), to sit under the work of a great while contemplating the challenges of their current work.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given his prowess and benevolence, Erickson also has a similar following among his scholars. Zheng laughed as he mentioned that among some arts students in the department, they talk about forming a John Erickson fan club complete with t-shirts that say, “John Erickson loves my work.”

And that is the transformative power one educator can have as the ripples of their impact create waves for generations that follow. ■

“

Mixed Media work by John Erickson called “Sojourner,” 24”x 32 (2025)

He taught something anatomically specific and then he bathed that in chiaroscuro [the dramatic use of light and shadow] — which he talked about constantly. Then he brought in the use of color vibration and how that impacted the flesh tones of the figure.

Learning from Alvin was an ongoing enfoldment of what he knew.

”

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All photos: Brandon Cruz

By Emeri Fetzer

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F

ine Arts students often intrinsically understand the health benefits of their personal practices. Maybe the studio is their first refuge for relaxation, regulation, or release. There, they can freely move their body, pour into a canvas, or play an instrument until an emotion changes. Perhaps this inclination to turn to art for wellbeing is the very thing that draws them to it.

For those curious about the innate healing power of the creative process, a new opportunity for inquiry — at the intersection of art and health — is now available at the University of Utah.

This spring brought the launch of four introductory courses in the evidence-based field of Creative Arts Therapies (CAT). CAT is the term encompassing healthcare professions that use the creative process of making art to improve the well-being of individuals of all ages and health conditions. Foundational courses in Art Therapy, Dance/Movement Therapy, Drama Therapy, and Music Therapy introduced students to professional clinical training, including the history, theoretical principles, and practices of each profession.

Serving as a pre-requisite for any student wanting to further their study in graduate programs, the courses were taught by seasoned clinicians with notable experience in the field. Combined, the four instructors hold clinical master’s degrees, board certificates, state licenses in mental health counseling and marriage & family counseling, and have served on accreditation boards.

Open to full-time students as well as the larger community, these courses attracted individuals from all points in their education, with a wide range of motivations: from wanting to grow as teachers, challenge themselves as artists, explore interdisciplinary integration, or pursue careers in healthcare.

For Sydney Porter Williams, who received both a BFA in art teaching and MFA in community-based enjoyed, and include a note to the deceased person. An arts education and is now an Adjunct Professor in opportunity to honor those passed, this process could also the Department of Art & Art History, the course was allow grievers to express things unsaid. confirmation that art therapy is the next step in her path.

“In my own practice, there were doors opened I “In our art education program, there is already a strong didn’t realize could be, for as long as I have been doing focus on healing,” she said. “This felt like the missing art,” Brasher said. “Being able to work alongside other link between arts ed and therapy and using art for wonderful people to create meaningful interventions healing. I can now create a bridge and put language to it.” has opened up my heart, doors for connection, and Several students came to the CAT courses with community in a way I didn’t expect.” significant experience in the sciences and medicine. The Alongside the work to understand how to use art to information they gained both broadened possibilities for help others, many students found that they unexpectedly research and changed their perspectives on patient care. deepened their understanding of themselves.

“Something that is really important to me is Max VanNocken-Witmer, who graduated spring 2025 understanding that medicine is more than the treatment, with a BFA in modern dance, found the course to be a the medication, the procedure. It’s really about the reflective conclusion of his time at the U. person,” said Kathryn Boyce, a double major in modern “I’ve realized that dance/movement therapy has dance and pre-medicine who found a natural marriage almost always been a part of who I am,” he said. “Within of her interests in dance/movement therapy. my own therapy journey, I have often found myself not “There’s no diagnosis,” she explained. “You’re not having words to describe things, telling my therapist, interpreting someone’s movement and saying ‘you feel ‘I don’t have words to describe it, but it looks like this this way.’ You’re just giving someone the space to express inside my body.’ Coming to this class, I realized moving what is needed physically and being able to experience was a very valid form of therapy and release. It’s been so the world through their body. The importance of that is validating. Within my own creative practice, I’ve realized sometimes downplayed.” how I can incorporate it, just in how I go through life.”

Deborah Yi-Ning Hsu is a classically trained “One of my favorite things was the opportunity to musician who has previously worked in a pediatric experience things that had previously only existed in our neurology lab. She was interested to discover the overlap past, or in our brains, and not to just see them written between the neurological sciences with music therapy. out on a journal page or as something abstract and hard “I wanted to weave my way in by using my pre-med to grasp but taking up space in the form of real people,” experience and my empirical scientific side,” she said. said drama therapy student Kathryn O'Mara.

For their final projects, students researched and Regardless of where students’ journeys take them, developed introductory creative arts therapy interventions providing education in creative arts therapies adds not only that could be implemented in clinical practice. Deborah critical understanding for well-rounded artists, but paves Yi-Ning Hsu explored how auditory rhythmic stimulation the way for sustainable and compassionate healthcare. could help Parkinsons patients set tempo for their gait, as “I'm in awe with the work we have accomplished part of rehabilitation for motor control. bringing these introductory courses to our students and Student Essen Skabelund investigated how to use community,” said Becky Zarate, College of Fine Arts drama therapy to treat clients with obsessive compulsive Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Arts & disorder, employing playfulness to step outside black and Health Innovation Lab at the U. “The students learned white thinking. about the field's broad reach, the high level of research In the Art Therapy course, students Karen Quinn and and body of knowledge in CAT, and most of all, about how they can be involved in a field that transforms Matt Brasher addressed grief for geriatric populations, others’ lives, just as it does for them in their own recommending that participants create postcards arts practices." ■ using imagery and colors their loved one would have

“ In my own practice, there were doors opened I didn’t realize could be, for as long as I have been doing art.”

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DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE ALUMNA CARA POMEROY TAKES THE TECHNICAL REINS

BY EMERI FETZER

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C

ara Pomeroy formed her first theatre company, Porch Playhouse, when she was in elementary school. She and the other neighborhood kids would meet on her back deck and write quirky scripts to act out.

Later, at Salt Lake City’s West High School, do-ityourself productions meant students often taught other students how to design sets, run lights, or manage productions. She ended up President of the Drama Club and head of the stage crew.

Years later, after taking a hiatus from college, Pomeroy found herself back in theatre classes at the U. But was theatre still what she most wanted to pursue?

And, if so, which part?

“I realized I don’t love the rehearsal process. I don’t enjoy getting into a room with a bunch of other people and having to be vulnerable,” Pomeroy admitted.

What she did love was set design.

However, there was a problem. While attending school in Virginia, a professor had said she would never be a set designer if she couldn’t improve her drawing skills. She had earnestly taken drawing classes but hadn’t improved much.

Enter Kyle Becker, Technical Director and Performing Arts Design Program (PADP) faculty at the U Department of Theatre.

Pomeroy remembers Becker’s staggered reaction when she revealed her hang-up.

“He said, ‘There are many different approaches to every part of theater design. If you know the job you want, figure out what your strengths are and develop a process that plays to them. If you can’t draw, figure out alternative ways to get visual information across. Spend time investing in the ones that are better for you.’”

That was just the encouragement Pomeroy needed.

She dove headfirst into her interests, and found that the PADP was a world rich with opportunity for those who wanted it. The action-oriented, personalized, flexible guidance that Becker provided was the hallmark of the remainder of her study.

Cara Pomeroy

Photo: Joshua Black, Pioneer Theatre Company

It didn’t take long for her professional development “From 7th to 12th grade, I saw subsidized student to fast-track. On top of work-study in the scene shop, matinees here at PTC. This was held up to me as Assistant Technical Director Halee Rasmussen what theater looks like in its highest form. I’m very connected Pomeroy to the Grand Theatre, where what emotionally invested in Pioneer’s success. Also, at this started as an internship quickly turned into a role as point I have spent a whole lot of time seeing how the Master Electrician. sausage is made. It’s exciting to be here with people who Then, in her junior year, Pioneer Theatre care this much and are incredibly skilled in so many Company (PTC) artist Warren Gerritsen asked different things.”

Adjunct Professor and Scenic Charge Thomas George Whenever she is teaching or mentoring students, for recommendations of scenic painting students who she parallels an approach she learned at the U: focus on might be interested in working at PTC on an as-needed hands-on learning and job readiness. basis. Pomeroy was first on the list.

“Some of my students left high school with full set “I had this constant flow between working at PTC as designs in a portfolio,” she said. “Almost all of them a scenic painter, working in the shop as a carpenter and would have been ready to go into a job immediately, welder, and at the Grand Theater as master electrician. because there are so many different levels in technical I had this extremely rich theater and because it educational experience for most takes a huge staff. If you’re of my time at the University of hardworking and you’re Utah, all facilitated by PADP dependable, there’s work.” faculty.” Pomeroy said. “I got Pomeroy believes a basic paid for almost all that work, knowledge of technical theatre and when I finished school, is useful for all performing arts I was ready to jump into any students, no matter if they intend number of jobs.” to be primarily under the lights.

It’s no surprise that she quit “I’ve always told performers waiting tables and has worked that I highly recommend exclusively in technical theatre getting basic electrics and since graduating in 2017. scenic painting training, For five years she taught because those are the two jobs technical theater for the that pull in lots of people for a Salt Lake School for the short period of time. It’s easy Performing Arts, where she to find gig work. If you can pad built the curriculum from out your performing gigs with scratch to include stagecraft, electrics gigs, you don’t have to Cara Pomeroy woodworking, lighting go find a ‘muggle’ job,” she said.

Photo: Courtesy of the Department of Theatre design, theater electrics, Although Pomeroy audio engineering, set design, scenic painting, set emphasizes that a bit of everything is required in the construction, and stage management. field, it is the dedication to always keep learning that Alongside her full-time roles she is a freelance makes a great technician. From there, the sky is the set designer. Recent credits include “Of Color” and limit.

“Jump” for Plan B Theatre Company, “First Date” and “Performance design and technology is so broad that “Perdida” for The Grand Theatre, and “Hir” for Salt nobody can be good at all of it,” she said.

Lake Acting Company.

“You get new challenges every day. There are rules And now, she has returned to Pioneer Theatre and standards and guidelines, but so many of the things Company as technical director, the first woman in the that we build have never been built before and never will role’s history. be again. Theatre is collaborative and ephemeral.” ■ “One of the things I was most excited to do is be a steward of PTC’s relationship with the Department of Theatre,” she said.

“...It’s exciting to be here with people who care this much and are incredibly skilled in so many different things.”

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GOMBERG MARINA (Left) Elisa Alfonso

(Right) The airplane logbook documenting unaccompanied children that includes Alfonso’s father, listed as Gilberto Alfonso Flores

BY

Photo: Catherine Heeman

Photo: Courtesy of Elisa Alfonso

L

ike many young students, Raymond C. Morales Postdoctorate Fellow in Musicology, Elisa Alfonso, had divergent interests while studying at East Carolina University as an undergraduate. She was a flute performance major who picked up a Hispanic studies major, wrote her undergrad thesis on geography, and earned a half-minor in biology.

It was not abundantly clear what to do next with those diverse interests until she met ethnomusicologist and Associate Professor Mario Rey, a Cuban American like Alfonso, who noticed how her

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curiosities converged in one unique place: ethnomusicology, the study of music in its cultural context.

And so, she went on to graduate school at Florida State pursuing just that and then earned her PhD at University of Texas at Austin.

As the child of a Cuban migrant, she was primarily interested in the culture and context of Operation Pedro Pan, the clandestine relocation of more than 14,000 Cuban children from Cuba to the United States in the early 1960s by the Catholic Welfare Bureau and U.S. government.

Growing up, Alfonso had heard bits and pieces of her father’s emigration story from Cuba. Some of his experience seemed strikingly similar to what she was researching, though he hadn’t known the full context of his U.S. immigration. It was through her investigations that she discovered her dad was, in fact, a Pedro Pan himself.

As a musician, in addition to the historical context of the Cold War and the conditions of migrant camps, Alfonso’s interests were often focused on the documentation — or lack thereof — of the oral and sonic.

“My research, in part, examines music and sound as it shapes the collective memory and the historical narratives of the exodus,” she said. “The other part of my work examines how music and sound help Pedro Pans and their descendants express and process the traumatic memory of their unaccompanied childhood migration event.”

One example was a lullaby called “Señora Santana” about a little boy who lost his apple and a kind woman who gives him another one. Various versions of this song had been sung in Cuban American communities for decades (in fact, Alfonso wrote about many of them for the Library of Congress Blogs in a piece called “Caught My Ear: The Lullaby That Came to Symbolize the Exodus of Cuba’s Children”).

Some versions of the song include a third verse recounting the boy’s dissatisfaction with the new apple; he wanted his original, and Alfonso has noticed how differently that portion has been interpreted over time.

A 1963 propaganda film produced by the United States Information Agency called “The Lost Apple,” about the exodus of Cuban children to the U.S. opens with a recording of the longer version.

Many who associate “Señora Santana” with Operation Pedro Pan see the “extra verse as a metaphor for the irreparable loss Pedro Pans experience and still feel decades later,” Alfonso said. In the film, however, the last verse “is paired with anti-communist messaging and a speech encouraging Cuban children to become, as historian Deborah Shnookal (2020) put it, ‘junior freedom fighters’ for a free (read ‘capitalist’) Cuba.”

Alfonso argues that, while the song later symbolized irreparable loss resulting from the Pedro Pans’ childhood exile, the 1963 film originally seems to present the lullaby as a motivator for viewers of the film to support a change in government in Cuba so children could recover “the lost apple.”

And while the operation is largely celebrated — perhaps in part due to crafted narratives like the one in “The Lost Apple” — it was neither easy nor comfortable for many of the Pedro Pans. It’s interdisciplinary research interests like Alfonso’s that help illuminate a more nuanced understanding of this complex time in our nation’s history.

Now, Alfonso is teaching in the University of Utah’s School of Music for her three-year fellowship, and she’s bringing with her a field of study new to the U: ethnomusicology.

“Of course, music cannot be fully understood if stripped from its cultural context, and so investigations into time, place, and people have long been part of the School of Music’s curriculum,” said Kimberly Councill, Director of the School of Music. “Alfonso’s specific focus and expertise in ethnomusicology, however, amplifies that inquiry to new and even deeper levels.”

Alfonso’s courses include an upper-level music history elective called U.S. Latinx Musicking which focused on the diasporic experience in the U.S. for Latinx people. In that course, she facilitated conversations around migration, diaspora, borders, and the liminality of intersectional identities in a sociohistorical context, including the way policy affects different groups from Latin America.

MY RESEARCH, IN PART, EXAMINES MUSIC AND SOUND AS IT SHAPES THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVES OF THE EXODUS. She is also teaching World Music Courses, which survey music of the indigenous peoples of Africa, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and the Americas and explore the how music functions within these cultures with a look at the music, the musicians, their instruments, and the complexity of ideas, behaviors, and processes that are involved.

Like so many faculty members at the U, Alfonso’s unique history, passion, and care add dimension and texture to the tapestry of knowledge to be shared.

Coupled with her interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and research-based practice Elisa Alfonso is an irreplaceable apple. ■

Alfonso at the historic site marker for Camp Matecumbe, one of the temporary placement camps for Pedro Pans in Miami Photo: Courtesy of Elisa Alfonso

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GIVING

Photo: Busath Photography

Gordon and Connie Hanks

THE MULTI-FACETED PARTNERSHIP OF GORDON AND CONNIE HANKS

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AND

BY EMERI FETZER

A

few months ago, Gordon and Connie Hanks’ landline rang. They didn’t recognize the number, but on the other end they found the warm, familiar voice of a U student they had supported with a scholarship 27 years ago.

After all this time, this recipient was calling to share that he had gone on to become a senior executive at a major company, and to relay his gratitude for the role the Hanks played in getting him there. They were filled with emotion.

“We are passionate about scholarships,” Connie said. “It is an investment in the future — planting a seed that will grow into wonderful things, wonderful human beings that understand the world and how to navigate it.”

“We get so much more out of it than what we give financially,” Gordon emphasized. “We develop great relationships with students. A lot of them have become like family.”

Many of these students come from the College of Fine Arts, where the Hanks have been stalwart supporters of scholarships for as long as they can remember. They believe if there is one thing as crucial as student success, it’s the arts.

“From the beginning of time, the arts have enriched our culture and society and united us. They are an avenue where we express our deepest emotions, no matter which form,” Connie said.

“And we just have this gem in the arts at the university. We're so fortunate to have such great venues — Libby Gardner Hall, Kingsbury Hall, Pioneer Theatre Company…and every one of the schools in the College has this incredible passion about developing and loving the arts,” Gordon added.

When it comes to the business of performance, the Hanks have a uniquely qualified perspective, which makes their partnership with U Arts even more dynamic.

They are the founders of Jazz SLC, a series that brought world-class jazz musicians to our own backyard for nearly three decades. This year, they partnered with UtahPresents to launch Jazz at Kingsbury Hall, which will steward the next era of local jazz performances. The series — featuring Delfeayo Marsalis, Hot House West Swing Orchestra, and Christian McBride — packed the hall with loyal and new patrons alike.

From booking musicians, working with agents and contracts, and producing 250+ performances, the couple has learned simple things that make or break an artist’s success.

“Number one: Know your music. Practice, practice, practice,” Gordon said. “Number two: Connect with the audience. It's incredibly important for anyone in the arts, whether it's dance, music, theater — all artists must realize when I come on stage, I have to give my art, my heart and my soul.”

From the beginning of time, THE ARTS HAVE

“

ENRICHED OUR CULTURE AND SOCIETY AND UNITED US. THEY ARE AN AVENUE WHERE WE EXPRESS OUR NO MATTER WHICH FORM.” – CONNIE HANKS

emotions,

deepest

They say the U is getting it right, particularly in the Jazz Studies program in the School of Music.

“They're doing everything terrifically well with the specifics of learning how to play an instrument,” he said. “But they’re not just teaching kids to play instruments. They’re teaching them to go out in the community and share their art form, present themselves onstage well, engage with the audience, and perhaps most importantly, get gigs and develop a following.”

Gordon knows the X factor when he sees it. In 2022, he saw a YouTube video of a jazz singer and tracked down her agent to pursue an engagement with JazzSLC. When her agent told him the fee, Gordon offered to double it. “I said, ‘I know she’s going to be a megastar. And in a few years, I want her back in my series,” he recounted.

That artist was Samara Joy, who won three Grammy Awards the following year.

In this, and so many other stories, the Hanks’ utmost respect for the artist’s journey is evident — including all the work that goes unseen along the way.

“We forget the backstory of kids in music, dance, art, or in film. You’re not just seeing a 2-hour concert, you’re seeing the endless hours of practice over the years it took to get there,” Gordon said.

It is precisely those years, in the College of Fine Arts, that they are making a little brighter, a little easier, with their support.

“We believe in giving students that chance to grow their talent,” Connie said. “It could change their lives forever.” ■ 33

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Guest Artist Thank You

The faculty, staff, and especially the students in the College of Fine Arts thank our generous donors for their contributions to the College and its five academic units from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2024.

Their incredible generosity has enhanced education, empowered many, and inspired us all.

If you’re interested in supporting the work of the College of Fine Arts and its academic units, visit finearts.utah.edu

Connoisseur $25,000 + Bene Arnold* Sandi Behnken John W. Ballard and Karen L. Miller, MD Dick and Timmy Burton Foundation Community Foundation of Utah Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Libby Hunter James R. and Nanette S. Michie Foundation Carolyn Gardner and Kem Gardner, JD Kenneth P. and Sally Rich Burbidge Foundation I Marriner S. Eccles Foundation Meldrum Foundation Dirk Meyer* James R. Michie and Judith C. Condie Anne Osborn Poelman Kristin Whitaker

Patron $2,500–$4,999 Anonymous Atkin/R&Y Atkin Family Outreach LLC American Endowment Foundation Barbara Bannon* John Bennion, PhD and Liz Bennion Mitzi Brady and Rodney Brady, PhD* Lisa Chaufty and Miguel Chuaqui Genevieve Christianson and Shane Larson Lisa Eccles Spencer F. and Cleone* Eccles Darla Gill and Pieter Unema J. Chris and Sandra Hemmersmeier Lee A. and Audrey M. Hollaar Joseph Jarvis, MD and Annette Jarvis, JD Sarah Kurrus John and Marcia Price Family Foundation Judith and James McConkie Robert Nelson, PhD and Charlotte Nelson Pat and Gene Ninomiya Wayne Petty, JD and Robyn Petty Patricia and Frank Pignanelli John and Marcia Price Jennifer Price-Wallin and Anthony Wallin, MD Princeton Area Community Foundation George and Laurie Ralphs R. Harold Burton Foundation Lesli and Scott Rice Jim Robertson The Rodney H. Brady and Carolyn Hansen Brady Foundation John Scheib, PhD and Amy Scheib Sandefur Schmidt Seiner Management Inc. Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles Family Foundation U.S. Charitable Gift Trust The Verity Charitable Fund, Inc. Marilyn Whitehead and Paul Whitehead, MD* Joe Zeidner and Susan Dillon

Zelie and Andy Pforzheimer Sarah Projansky, PhD and Kent Ono, PhD Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc. Steve and Gayle Reiber, PhD Anne Riffey Robert K. & Evelyn D. Pedersen Family Foundation, Inc. Jean Sabatine Bianca and Rusty Shepard Sarah Shippobotham Barbara and Robert* Sluder Michael Stevens, MD and Ruth Stevens Tracy Strong Edgar Thompson, PhD and Joanne Thompson Joel and Leigh VandenAkker John Veranth, PhD and Martha Veranth Jeff and Stephanie Weber Lynne Wimmer John and Joy Wiscombe Von and Virginia Whitby Patrick White

thank yo Aficionado $10,000–$24,999

Anonymous American Funds & Trusts, Inc. Jesselie and Scott Anderson ArtWorks For Kids Beesley Family Foundation Nathaniel Bowler Tina and Kenneth* Burton Loa Mangelson-Clawson* Edward L. Burton Foundation Emma Eccles Jones Foundation James R. and Nanette S. Michie Foundation Perry Fine, MD and Susan Fine Gordon and Connie Hanks Joanne L. Shrontz Family Foundation Lawrence T. and Janet T. Dee Foundation Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation McCarthey Family Foundation Frederick Moreton, Jr. and Lucy Moreton Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust, Inc. The Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving Catherine and Gibbs* Smith Roger Thompson and Mary Ann Creer Thompson W. Mack and Julia S. Watkins Foundation Trust

Benefactor $5,000–$9,999

Anonymous Sandra Brock Susan Burke Kent and Martha DiFiore E.J. Bird Foundation Katherine England Lisa L. and Eric C. Evans Richard* and Sally* Frampton George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation Lynn Hales and Mary Hales, PhD Herbert I. and Elsa B. Michael Foundation Kathie and Chuck Horman Doris Lawson and Michael Lawson, MD Markosian Auto Nib Holdings LLC Steven Rosenberg Jeffrey Shields, JD and Mary Ross The Sorenson Legacy Foundation

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Advocate $1,000–$2,499

C. LaMar Barrus, Jr., PhD Jeffrey and Debbie Brabender Paula Brady Chamber Music Society of SLC Inc. Marian Connelly-Jones and Gary Jones Marian A. Connelly Qualified Marital Trust Joanne Coppin and Thomas Coppin, MD Andrew and Allison De Camara Julie Dere and Willard Dere, MD William Doty and Mary Prater Doty, PhD Abby and Jerome Fiat Joan Firmage and John Firmage, Jr.* Robert and Mary Gilchrist Ralph and Rosetta* Gochnour June Harral Samuel Harris Kerwin and Cindi Ipsen Donald and Mary Lloyd E. Marc Mariani, MD and Michelle Mariani Angelica Matinkhah, MAR Michelle Michie and Robert Stringham Donald Pedersen, PhD and Kathy Pedersen

Friend $1–$999

Anonymous George and Sharon Aaron Kurt and Michelle Addison James Adkins Sheila Ainlay and Michael Steiner Michael and Diane Anderson Anthony Algeno Courtney Ansell Arkansas Community Foundation Lauren Arkoudas Lisa Arnett Haley Ashton and Miguel Knochel, MD Spencer Aste Anne Avery BAE Systems Belle Baggs Jordanna Bailey Rachel Bailey Shasta Bailey Zoe Bailey Jason and Sharlie Barber Jake and Devon Barnes Natalie Barnes Diane Beam Denise Begue Joyce and Robert* Bennett Susan Welby-Bennett John and Barbara Berg Catherine Berghahn Craig and Martha Berghahn Daniel and Tricia Bergeson Mark Bergstrom, PhD and Carol Bergstrom Kary Billings Arthur and Christy Bishop Trevor Blanchard Patti Bollenbaugh Ann Bonner Jeff and Cara Bonner MacKenna Bonner Jerome and Beth Boresow

Robert and Victoria Bourns David and Lisa Boyce Wayne and Kristine Bradford Camille Braeger Blake Bratcher and Kyle Adcock Kimberly Brown Colin and Leslie Buck Byron Russell LLC Michael Cahoon Craig Caldwell Clark and Meredith Campbell Priscilla Campbell, CPA Emma Capen Zizheng Cao Sarah Carlquist, JD Gary and Jennifer Carlson Cade Carter Hannah Carter Sean Carter Earl Catterton and Kim Sargent CENGAGE Learning Junseo Cha Jackson and Kristie Chambers Norman and Gisela Chambers Nicholas and Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell Carrie Cheng Aurora Chernis James Chipman Chipotle Mexican Grill Anneli Chow Isaac and Valarie Chung Randy and Tamralynn Clark Janet and Roger Clarke Jamie Clyde Nicholas Cockrell Caroline Connolly Sarah Conover-Hui Brianne Corbridge Thomas Costello Anne Cox Janet and Jack* Cox Glen and Alicia Cruz Olivia Custodio Francine Damasco Sarah Daughtrey Daynes Music Company Susan Daynes and Gerald “Skip” Daynes, Jr.* Peggy de Azevedo Haley De Camara Anne and Ashby* Decker James and Monica DeGooyer Dell Computer Corporation Jill Derington Cheryl Derricotte Edwin Dial Dianne Shelden Howe Trust Stanley DiCicco Asael Dickson Esmee Dieckman Robert and Sue Dintelman Hien Do and Duc Tran, MD Alexander Dolphin Peter Doll Christopher Donley Amanda Draper David Draper Dalton and Joanna Driggers Bradlee and Gina Duncan Eastern Arts Society ECS Publishing Corp.

Eric Eide, PhD and Shellie Eide David K. Ehlers, Jr. and Jennifer Ehlers Teal Elder Tyler Eldridge and Elizabeth Quigley, MD Emily Emmer Elaine Englehardt, PhD John Erickson Claudio Escobar John Evans, Sr. Tom Famer, III Allison Farnsworth Eric Feidner Kimberly Feldman Chris and Heidi Feroah William Ferry, Jr. and Richard Oosterom

ou

David and Marsha Fetzer Millard and Barbara Firebaugh Carmin Fisk Miriam Fisk John Foley, MD and Dorene Sambado, MD Robert and Virginia Folsom Melissa Fonnesbeck Mary and Daneil* Freed Grace Friedley Margie Frohlich Kimie Fujimoto Susan Gabriel Alexa Gamble Michaela Gerard Kaitlin Gifford Tori Gilbert David and Holli Gisseman Rebecca and Royden Glade Addison Goan Melanie Goan Nancy Goan Caitlin and Greg Gochnour April and Dale Goddard Marina and Elenor Gomberg Dane and Jode Graham Bob Gray Tomothy and Vasyl Green Richard and Carolyn Greene Brian and Mary Haan Anouk Haffner Henning Haffner Troy Hagemeyer Edward Haggerty and Kristine Halverson Olivia Haglund Robert Haise Amanda Hales, DMA David Hall, JD and Stephani Hall Laura Hamirani Larry Hancock Eric and Pamela Handman Corie Hansen Hugh and Leslie Hanson Caitlyn Harris Richard Harris Elizabeth Hary Amy Hasenkamp Jennifer Haymond Keith Hays Lynn Helding Cynthia Hendrix Emily Herb Raymond Hernandez* Gerald Hewes* Paul and Leora Hewitt Rebecca Hickox Anthony Hockenberry Stephen and Patricia Hodson Madisen Hone Errik Hood Eleanor Hoover Jeffrey Horne Dianne Howe, PhD Richard and Deborah Hoyt Cassidy Hunsinger Randy Huntress Catherine Iguchi Intel Foundation Jackman Music Corporation Dan and Lorraine Jackson Hailey Jackson Jennifer and Thomas* Jackson Patrick Jan and Peggy McDonough Jennifer Jauregui Hari Jayamohan, PhD and Gita Sreekumar Jennifer L. Jbara Matthew Jbara Nicole Jeffers Mary Jefferson Margaret Jeffries Linda Jellison Douglas Jensen Anna Jeong John M. Cooksey Family Trust George Johnson, IV Gordon Johnson

“This moment in time provides us the opportunity to have a pivotal impact, and anything I can do for this College and for the University to encourage and help the arts I will do.”

Judith McConkie, Fine Arts Advisory Board

Mica Johnson Benjamin Johnston Chloe Jones Katie Jordan Brian Jurena Michael Kalm, MD and Janet Mann* John and Janet Kazwell Elizabeth Kearsley Seth and Angela Keeton Loren Khan Paul Keir Roger Kiers Thomas Klassen and Carolyn Talboys-Klassen Kurt and Theresa Klein Vincent and Kerry Knackstedt Miquel Knochel, MD and Haley Ashton Kathy Knowlton and Joseph Knowlton, JD* Shari Knudson Hannah Kojouri Stanley and Eileen Kraczek Beth Krensky, PhD and Edward Gorfinkle Jessica Kretzschmar Tyler Kunz Jaime Kurkowski Emily Laford Kacie La Forest Elaine Lake Keither and Michele Lampers Alan Lang Elizabeth Lanza Karen Larson Matthew and Lorraine Larson Paul and Sharon Larson Tamron Larson Trey Lawrence Quincy Lawson Miriam Leany Erika Ledbetter Lou and Kathie Leberti Jack Legate Ginger Leishman Kathleen Levier-Gomes A. Leonore Lewis Alison Lewis Katherine and Harold* Liddle Noah Lillie Kathryn Lindquist, PhD and James Moore Katie Lobrot Carly Lockard James Logue Robert Loynd Alexas Lucero and Jeffrey Paris Sofia Marie Lusitana Jean and John* Lyman Frank Lynch Caroline Maffett Kayla Madsen Emma Mangers Dean Manning Brian and Erika Manternach

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“As a life-long lover of all forms of art, I feel it is so important to encourage and support the future generations of students who will be our future dancers, musicians, artists, actors, and art historians. Engaging with art, whether through creation or appreciation, can greatly improve our overall health, wellbeing, and social skills, which helps keeps our world a more positive place.”

Anne Neeley, Fine Arts Advisory Board

David Madrian and Brigitte Madrian, PhD William Maguire Maggie Maierle Mark Macey Peter and Annette Malen Mary-Margaret Marcantonio Lydia Martin Kim Martinez Samantha Matsukawa Catherine Matthews J. Michael and Mary Mattsson Evangelina Marenco Walter Mason, JD Kevin and Sue Martin Lynn and Ellen Maxfield Robert Maxwell Cassandra Mayfield Wendy McCord Craig McCullough Ashlee McDonald Maureen McGill Jerilyn McIntyre, PhD and W. David Smith Valentina Mejia Ruger Memmott Spencer Merrick, MD Robin Merrill Kim Miilburn M. Scott and Lisa Mietchen Chuck and Suzanne Miller Holly Miller John and Kimberly Miller Charles Mittelstadt Louis Moench, MD and Deborah Moench Eric and Emilee Morgan Justin Morgan Alyssa Morris Carolyn Morrow, JD Emily Mostue Melonie Murray, PhD and Steve Murray Gary Myers and Jane Myers, PhD Eva Myrback National Philanthropic Trust Wilma and Kenneth* Odell William Obiatt Willow Owens Jay and Sandhya Narasipura Patricia Nebenzahl Catherine and Jacob Nelson Jordan Nelson Madeline Nelson Gabriel Misla Nieves and Jarli Tijero

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Erasto Nieves John Nix Tenzin Norgyal Stephanie Northrup Vianca Pagan Kevin and Shawnette Page Kristi Paishon Anne Palmer Charlene Palmer Wade and Sheri Palmer Panda Restaurant Group, Inc. Kevin Parzych, MD and Brigette Parzych Jeff and Jennifer Payne Erin Payner Margaret Pearson Gary Peck Allie Pedersen Shannon Pena Nicholas Perez Kevin Perry Ronald Perry Jordan Peterson Rebecca Petersen Mark and Janie Peterson Christi Petrucka Adam Pfost Ray Pierotti Jorge Pille Mary Helen Pitman Sterling and Jacquee Poulson Frank and Claudia Prather Christopher Prince Michael Purcell, USAF (Ret.) and Yvonne Purcell The Purrington Family Trust Linda Purrington April Radford Kathryn Ragland George and Karen* Raine Jack Rampton, MD and Itha Rampton Christopher and Jill Randall Marissa Rejali Claudia Restrepo, DMA D. Rhett and Willow Jeppson Vernon and Loretta Rice Dylan Richardson Connor Rickman Michael and Anne* Riordan Stacie Riskin Christopher and Kelsey Rodgers Fernanda Rodriguez James Rodriguez Steven Roens, DMA and Cheryl Hart Kevin Rose Jane Rosenberg and Harvey Tepner Raymond Rubley, Jr.* and Patricia Rubley Samuel and Madeline Runyon Michelle Ruscetta Marijane Rushing Natalee Russell David Riley Jaime Ryskoski Leila Salari Erik Sather and Nicole Walker, PhD Terry Sawchuk, MD and Lisa Sawchuk Richard Scharine, PhD and Marilyn Scharine Sarah Schiffhauer Jada Schiller Mark Schneller Tyler Schnese Kendyl Schofield Ari and Julie Schwartz Nicholas Scown Leigh Selting and Marsha Knight Rosemary Shadwick Gregory and Janet Shaw Isabel Shimanski Keira Shimota Sandra Shotwell Glenda Shrader Richard and Margery Shunk Sandra Shurtz Nicholas Siedle Kathy Simmons Reshma Singh Delee and Kelly Skeen

Randall and Debra Skeen Alexis Smith W. David Smith and Jerilyn McIntyre, PhD Heather Smith James and Marion Smith Linda Smith, JD and Lee Shuster Lydia Smith Paige Smith Robert Smith Sandra Sowerby and Melvin Sowerby, Jr.* Dolores Spacek Andy Speirs Michael Steiner and Sheila Ainlay Carol Steffens Debbie Stokes James Stuart Andrew and Alice Sullivan Arthur Swindle, JD Palemia and Kimberly Tafiti Julie Tang John Tarbet Emma Tatum Cassie Taylor, DMA and Britt Taylor Harvey Tepner and Jane Rosenberg Charlotte Terry Margaret and Dennis Tesch Ashley and Nolan Thomson Debora Threedy, JD Kent and Cecelia Tibbitts Rex and Allison Tilton Ingo Titze, PhD and Kathy Titze Ben Tomlin Uc Tran, MD and Hien Do Blythe Truhe Devin Turner Julianne Turner Tutulist John and Dana Vandover Katea Vake Anne Van Gelder Max Van Nocken-Witmer Lennon Vaughan Meleah Vaughan Nicole Vernon Janelle Vigil Brian and Kay Vigue Leigh von derEsch Tyler Vongthongchit Chris and Catherine Wagner Richard Walsh and Carolyn Hunter Walsh Margaret Ware Wilfred Weeks, Jr. Gary Weight and Jayne Weight Frank and Janell Weinstock Wells Fargo Educational Matching Gifts Thomas Welsh, PhD and Sue Carpenter Barbara Wescott Nathan West John Wilde and Jane Wilde, RN Connie Wilkerson Chris and Karla Willis Sharon and David* Wilson Lawrence and Maida Withers Heidi and Todd Woodbury Todd and Heidi Woodbury Natalie Workman Mia Wright John Wright-Costa, DMA and Julie Wright-Costa Erin Yanagisawa Cameron Yates Gary and Carolyn Yurkovich Serena Zarin Cristin Zimmer-Shively Emily Zinn

contributors

Editor-in-Chief Marina Gomberg is the University of Utah College of Fine Arts Director of Communications + Marketing.

Formerly an award-winning lifestyle columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune, she now writes on Substack at “Chronically Marina.”

On the Cover

Writers

Front cover: Preparing for final checks before rolling film during class, Department of Film & Media Arts student Bailey Peterson looks through the viewfinder of the ARRI 35 III while Yevhenii Bahrii checks the monitor. The course, FILM 6945: 35mm Filmmaking, provides an in-depth exploration of 35mm filmmaking, focusing on the technical, historical, and creative aspects of celluloid-based film production.

Students gain hands-on experience with professional 35mm MOS cameras, film stock, and accessories while exploring the broader artistic and technological contexts of analog cinema. Through a combination of lectures, workshops, screenings, and practical exercises, students develop technical expertise and creative confidence in working with film as a medium.

Emeri Fetzer has a decade’s experience writing about, fundraising for, and performing in the arts. She is a Communications Specialist and Grant Writer for the College of Fine Arts. When she’s not busy at the CFA, she is on a mountaintop with her husband Jason and daughter Sylvie.

Julia Lyon loves to write about ordinary people doing amazing things whether it’s dancers, artists, or kids discovering dinosaurs in their own backyard. Her debut children’s nonfiction book, “A Dinosaur Named Ruth,” was published by Simon & Schuster in 2021. When she’s not on deadline, you can find her strumming her ukulele and singing to her three kids.

Merritt Mecham holds an MFA in Writing for Film and Television from Emerson College. Her work has been featured on RogerEbert.Com, Bright Wall/Dark Room, City Weekly, and in “The Female Gaze” by Turner Classic Movies host Alicia Malone. She is a Marketing & Communications Coordinator for the College of Fine Arts.

Photo: ALSO Sisters

Visit finearts.utah.edu to learn more about what we’re up to and to find the digital version of this magazine with enhanced content.

Editorial Board

Special Thanks

Dean John W. Scheib Sonia Albert-Sobrino Kirstin Chávez Emeri Fetzer Marina Gomberg Kelby McIntyre-Martinez Sara Pickett Gage Williams Rebecca Zarate Xi Zhang

Devon Barnes Denise Begue Blake Bratcher Sheri Jardine Ashley Jian Thomson Design by modern8

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Salt Lake City, UT Permit #1529

University of Utah College of Fine Arts 375 S. 1530 E. Room 250 Salt Lake City, UT 84112 — finearts.utah.edu

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS

ACADEMIC UNITS

WHO WE ARE

RESEARCH

CAREER PREP

Arts research — the generation, discovery, application, and integration of knowledge — takes many forms. It’s the premiere of a new choreographic work. It’s arts teaching and learning. It’s the set design of a play.

It’s a mural in and with community. It can also be distributed through traditional forms like textbooks, book chapters, research papers, and studies.

With an emphasis on experiential learning, our robust suite of career preparation programs provides our students with experience, mentorship, and professional connections.

Learn more at finearts.utah.edu/artsforce

LABS & CENTERS

�21M in research funding raised in the last 5 years

CAMPUS FOOTPRINT

ALUMNI

86

88

%

%

of alumni rated their overall experience at the U positively

of undergraduate alumni and 95% of graduate alumni are satisfied with their current work

94

95

of alumni rated their overall experience at the U positively

of our alumni said their arts degree was important for career advancement

%

%

%

of our graduates who pursue teaching positions secure them before graduating

SOME NOTABLE ALUMNI PLACEMENTS

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THE THE PLACE PLACE WHERE WHERE DILIGENCE DILIGENCE AND AND EEXCELLENCE XCELLENCE BECOME BEC OME INFLUENCE INFLUENCE

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