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SALT LAKE CITY — In a normal year, the Urban Arts Festival would attract tens of thousands of Utahns to downtown Salt Lake City for two days of music, art, vendors and food.
The coronavirus pandemic has taken mass gatherings off the table for the time being. But as 2020 is the 10-year anniversary of the festival, the Utah Arts Alliance didn't want to cancel the event outright.
The solution? Urban Arts Fest Elements — a monthlong celebration coming to The Gateway mall in September that will feature many of the festival's marquee events — or "elements" — without the gigantic crowds.
"We kind of saw a lot of other festivals and events have to cancel or postpone for the year," said Derek Dyer, executive director of the Utah Arts Alliance, adding that many events also tried going virtual for this year. "I felt like there has to be a third option, or maybe a creative solution, to this."
Urban Arts Fest Elements will start Sept. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a live painting exhibition and an arts and crafts market. Graffiti artists and muralists will create works live while other Utah artists sell their pieces.
Other festival events will include:
- Hard-N-Paint Street Basketball with 3-point contest and slam dunk contest — Sept. 6, 12-4 p.m.
- Lowrider Custom Car Culture Exhibit — Sept. 6, 12-4 p.m.
- Night Market with local artists selling handmade works — Sept. 18, 5-10 p.m.
There will be an artist retrospective, displaying past Urban Arts Festival works in Gateway storefronts, throughout the month. The annual Skate Deck Challenge, in which artists paint blank skateboards, will also go on through September. Utahns can stop by the Urban Arts Gallery anytime during business hours to view the submissions.
"One of the interesting stories about the festival that a lot of people might not know is that it originally started as a skate deck art show," Dyer said. On Sept. 18, as the Night Market is also occurring, attendees will vote for their favorite skate deck to determine a winner for this year's challenge. "They receive a bunch of different prizes from us," he said.
Jacklyn Briggs, marketing director at The Gateway, said the mall is "really excited" to welcome back the festival to the place it began 10 years ago. "When COVID hit, we started to talk to them about what that would look like and how we can adjust from there," Briggs said. "... We decided that it was important to keep some aspects of the festival because it really is such a unique cultural event that we don't get access to, normally. With The Gateway having so much outdoor, open-air areas and common space, we figured out a way to modify the event, piece it out, break it up, so that we could adhere to social distancing."
Mask use will be required at the event, as it is throughout Salt Lake County when physical distancing is difficult to maintain.
"Our priority, of course, is first and foremost the safety of the community," Dyer said. "We decided that this might be the best way for us to still be able to provide this opportunity for the community to connect with and participate in the arts, still in a safe way."
Urban Arts Fest Elements is free and open to the public. A full schedule of events and more information is available at the Utah Arts Alliance website.
The Gateway is located at 400 W. 100 South in Salt Lake City.
