Community Calendar

The USU Museum of Anthropology presents a Family 1st Saturday with engaging hands-on experiential learning for all ages showcasing the art and craft of beading on Saturday November 2nd from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM in Old Main Room 252.

Bank of America Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank credit and debit cardholders can receive FREE general admission to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah from Saturday through Sunday, Nov. 2-3.

Through the Museums on Us program, Bank of America is able to provide its cardholders with free access to more than 225 artistic and cultural experiences across the United States at celebrated institutions ranging from art, children’s, and history museums to aquariums, botanical gardens, and science centers.

Present your Bank of America, Merrill or Bank of America Private Bank credit or debit card along with a photo ID to gain free general admission.

UTU Bookstore is excited to welcome author Nico Lang and Project Rainbow's Jacey Thornton to talk about Nico's new book, American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era. Spy Hop will be running a free all-ages zine workshop following the author reading and conversation.

This event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. This venue is wheelchair accessible and masks are required. ASL interpretation will be provided.

This event is made possible by support from ACLU Utah, Spy Hop, HRC Utah, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

About the Book
Media coverage tends to sensationalize the fight over how trans kids should be allowed to live, but what is incredibly rare are the voices of the people at the heart of this debate: transgender and gender nonconforming kids themselves. For their groundbreaking new book, journalist Nico Lang spent a year traveling the country to document the lives of transgender, nonbinary, and genderfluid teens and their families. Drawing on hundreds of hours of on-the-ground interviews with them and the people in their communities, American Teenager paints a vivid portrait of what it’s actually like to grow up trans today.

About Nico Lang
Nico Lang is the creator of Queer News Daily and an award-winning reporter, editor, essayist, author, and critic. You can read their work in Rolling Stone, Esquire, Teen Vogue, Them, the Advocate, Vice, the Wall Street Journal, Out, the Daily Beast, HuffPost, BuzzFeed News, and the L.A. Times, among others. Their newest book, American Teenager, a chronicle of trans youth living their lives in seven states across the U.S., is due in stores in fall 2024.

About Jacey Thornton
Jacey Thornton (she/they) is the Executive Director of Project Rainbow Utah and a current MSW intern at Flourish Therapy in Orem, Utah. With a background in advocacy, Jacey has dedicated her career to uplifting the voices of LGBTQIA+ communities and supporting marginalized individuals through both grassroots initiatives and clinical practice. As the mother of three youth, including a pre-teen, Jacey brings a personal perspective to the conversation, enriching the discussion on the diverse experiences of transgender and gender-diverse individuals across the USA in 2024.

The Latter-day Saint Earth Stewardship Fall Forum takes place Saturday November 2nd at 5:00 PM in the Fulton Library of Utah Valley University. The theme is "This Beautiful World: Preserving our Planet for Future Generations." The event includes an art exhibit, an address from Larry Echo Hawk, and light refreshments.

America’s largest interactive comedy murder dinner theatre show is now playing! Participants will solve a hilarious mystery while feasting on a fantastic dinner. The culprit is hiding in plain sight somewhere in the room, and attendees may even become Prime Suspects!

This event is very different from a traditional mystery dinner show. Actors are not dressed in costume and are hidden in the audience! This results in a fun, social and interactive evening suitable for all adults.

Each ticket includes a signature award-winning mystery dinner theatre show, along with a full plated dinner, waitstaff gratuity, and plenty of surprises during the show.

Happens on the following Dates:
Nov 2, 2024, 6:00pm to 8:30pm Timezone: MDT
Nov 16, 2024, 6:00pm to 8:30pm Timezone: MDT
Nov 30, 2024, 6:00pm to 8:30pm Timezone: MDT

Preservation Utah presents the Windows Into Time Gala on Saturday November 2nd from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at the Clubhouse in Salt Lake City. The "Windows Into Time" gala to celebrate the stories embedded in Utah's past and help us safeguard these treasures for the future and supports the work of Preservation Utah in defending Utah’s unique architectural heritage.

The Power of Place: Stories That Connect Us
What is it about buildings and places that beckon us to this work? Have you ever had a pin-prickly feeling that you were there for reasons you couldn’t quite explain? Places have the curious power to call us, sometimes in uncanny ways. We just feel something when we stand where others lived and built the foundations of community. We see beauty where others see blight. We are placemakers who tell the stories of those who came before, and we elevate those who are here today. We create a sense of belonging, and we see that magic happens when people belong. Together, we will share not only the inspiration behind our preservation work but also delightful coincidences that leave us shaking our heads. You can’t make this stuff up.

About Rhonda

Rhonda Lauritzen is a professional biographer who has written a dozen books and is a regular presenter at regional and international conferences. She has an MBA from the University of Utah and served as CEO of her family business, working alongside six brothers. In 2016, she quit her job as a VP at the Ogden-Weber Technical College to become a full-time writer. Since then, Rhonda has been hired to help tell the stories of families, buildings, and communities. Her next nonfiction book, A Child in Berlin, will be released by Post Hill Press on October 29. She believes that when you tell your story, it changes the ending.

Join the Humane Society of Utah for an unforgettable evening at the annual Wags to Wishes Gala! This year’s masquerade-themed event will be filled with heartwarming moments, featuring special guest appearances from our beloved shelter animals. Enjoy an elegant plated dinner, signature cat- and dog-themed cocktails and mocktails from our "barktender," and an exciting live and silent auction. All proceeds benefit our mission to provide shelter, care, and adoption services for animals in need.
Don’t miss this magical night of compassion and celebration, and help make a difference in the lives of our furry friends.
For tickets and more information, visit UtahHumane.org/Gala

Center for the Arts at Kayenta is set to host a rare musical event that will bring world-class talent rarely seen in Utah to the stunning backdrop of Southern Utah's landscape. On Saturday, November 2, 2024, at 7:30 pm, the Crossing Open Ground collective will present an introduction to their groundbreaking project, featuring music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams and other renowned artists.

Produced by Liquid Music
Presented by Center for the Arts at Kayenta
Sat, Nov 2, 2024, 7:30 pm
Center for the Arts at Kayenta

Ahead of an epic staging of John Luther Adams' Crossing Open Ground in Southern Utah, a 2025 project in development, Liquid Music will introduce the artistic team with live music by the musicians and John Luther Adams, and offer insights on a shared vision for an ultimate desert rendering.

The upcoming November 2nd event will showcase a chamber music ensemble of unparalleled caliber, including:

• Christopher Rountree: A three-time Grammy-nominated conductor praised for his "elegant clarity" by the New York Times.
• Vicky Chow: A Hong Kong/Canadian/American pianist who has been described as “brilliant” by the New York Times and “one of our era’s most brilliant pianists” by Pitchfork.
• Nathalie Joachim: A Grammy-nominated composer and flutist, hailed as "a fresh and invigorating cross-cultural voice" by The Nation.
• C.J. Camerieri: A two-time Grammy award winner who has toured with Paul Simon and collaborated with Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens.
• Trever Hagen: A Grammy-nominated musician who has worked with Bon Iver and Mouse on Mars.

Artepaño: Chicano Prisoner Kerchief Art is on display at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art through January 2025. The exhibit displays fifteen by fifteen-inch cotton handkerchiefs transformed into works of art by prisoners who self-identify as Chicano, Mexican American, Latino, and/or Hispanic. NEHMA invites all to visit the exhibition and explore the artists’ stories.

Los Angeles Hard Edge from the Collection places the exhibition, June Harwood Paintings, into a broader context. The artists in this exhibition, as well as June Harwood, participated in the exhibition California Hard-Edge Painting at the Pavilion Gallery in Balboa, California, in 1964 which featured eleven artists, including four women. Their paintings emphasize flat shapes, colors, and forms differentiated from each other by well-defined (‘hard’) edges.  

 As an important international traveling exhibition, Four Abstract Classicists announced one of the first key West Coast art movements. It was largely a reaction to the dominance of Abstract Expressionism of the late 1940s and 1950s, with its emphasis on energetic brushwork, subjectivity, and emotionality. In contrast, the work of the Abstract Classicists was clean, precise, and impersonal.