The state of Utah is replete with ways to enjoy and participate in the arts. Everywhere you turn, from Cache Valley to Saint George, performing and fine arts abound for everyone from the casual observer to the connoisseur. In order from north to south, these are the five best cities in Utah for the arts.
One and a half hours north of Salt Lake City, nestled in Cache Valley, Logan is consistently ranked as one of the best college towns in the country. As the home to Utah State University (USU), the arts opportunities that abound in a university setting would be enough reason to put it on this list. Dr. Craig Jessop, former director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, sits at the helm of the Caine College of Fine Arts and has orchestrated a resurgence of the fine arts programs at USU. From astounding visual arts exhibits to impressive choral, orchestral and theatrical productions, USU's growing reputation as a hub of the arts will only expand over time. But that's not all.
The Cache Valley Center For the Arts sponsors touring performing artists and offers arts education programs to citizens of the area. Among its resident arts organizations are the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre Company, Cache Theatre Company, Cache Valley Civic Ballet, American Festival Chorus, New Horizons Orchestra, and the cooperative Artists’ Gallery, among others. Such offerings are especially impressive given Logan's 50,000 citizen population in a relatively remote location.
Utah's capital is the home to its own set of impressive arts organizations. Not only is the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir based in Salt Lake City, with The Orchestra at Temple Square, Salt Lake has embraced the arts wholeheartedly. The Salt Lake City Arts Council not only sponsors art education seminars throughout the year, they are the puppeteers of an impressive series of summer concerts throughout the downtown area. Every weekday afternoon in August, at a variety of parks throughout the city, the "Brown Bag Concert Series" connects local artists with those looking to enjoy a little music during the noon hour. For $5 on Thursday evenings in July and August, concert goers can enjoy up-and-coming artists in a casual outdoor atmosphere.
That's not to say Salt Lake City's art scene is made up of amateurs. With an impressive list of galleries in the downtown and University of Utah areas, the Utah Symphony, Ballet West, Capitol Theater, and the Utah Opera, the professional arts scene is a living, breathing organism in Salt Lake City.
45 miles south of Salt Lake City, Provo is home to Brigham Young University (BYU) and an ever growing population of theaters, galleries, and music venues. The Covey Center for the Arts it the home of the Utah Valley Symphony,galleries for traveling exhibits, and a small black box theater where members of the community can try out their acting chops in one of the semi-monthly productions
But the heart and soul of the Provo arts scene will always befound at BYU. From an impressive array of professional artists in its "Bravo!" series to its renowned fine arts program, BYU prides itself on elevating the arts to a family-friendly, uplifting experience. Folk dance to contemporary, opera to musical theater, BYU boasts more than 500 events during its season. Its Museum of Art also houses an impressive list of traveling exhibits in addition to the art of its students.
Three hours south of Salt Lake City, in the unassuming city of Cedar City, sits a Tony Award Winner. Awarded the Tony in 2000 for Outstanding Regional Theater, the Utah Shakespeare Festival has been delighting guests from the world since 1962. Until 2014, theAdams Memorial Shakespearean Theatre, a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, was the main stage of this illustrious festival. In fact, it was the Utah Shakespeare Festival that spurred on the idea that The Globe could be rebuilt in London, 250 feet from its original location. Unfortunately, forty years of elements took its toll on the wooden building and construction has recently been completed on the festival's new $35 million home, the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts.
Spanning three weeks of June and July, the Utah Shakespeare Festival hosts seminars on "The Bard", curtain call luncheons, play orientations, production seminars, and six full-length productions, complete with backstage access to set changeovers. The festival also presents a 30-minute"Greenshow" prior to each evening performance where actors and dancers perform in the ultimate Elizabethan opening act. Tickets are available well before the festival and will sell out.
Known for its sunny skies and warm temperatures, St. George sits sandwiched between the red rocks of Snow Canyon and Zion's National Park. Drawing on its dramatic setting, Tuachan Amphitheater is home to the Tuachan High School of Performing Arts as well as world-class concerts and events. Boasting a Saturday market and pre-show dinners, Tuachan is the ultimate in outdoor entertainment, with stunning views of the red rock indigenous to St. George.
But St. George's appeal is not limited to performing arts. With galleries throughout the city, and the Fibonacci Fine Arts Guild leading the charge, artists are not just finding inspiration in St. George, but are also finding a welcomingaudience.
Whether you are looking for theater, dance, the symphony, or art of any kind, you will find it readily available throughout the state of Utah, complete with breathtaking vistas and the greatest snow on earth.
