Beth Krensky selected as one of Utah’s 15 Most Influential Artists

Beth Krensky selected as one of Utah’s 15 Most Influential Artists

“Every five years, we check in with our public to answer an important but not always easy question: Who are the state’s most influential artists? These are not necessarily the “hottest” artists, they are not the most “honored” artists, but these are the artists who make a difference in Utah.

Artists of Utah has announced:

We left it to the public to decide what they felt “influential” meant. We wanted these artists to be nominated by their peers, those that have been able to see their influence first hand. We didn’t want the final 15 to be selected by some small committee of “experts.” Nor did we want it to be a popularity contest, with people’s Facebook accounts filled with pleas of “vote for me.” So we asked a pool of more than 150 people — artists, writers, administrators, patrons — to winnow the list down to 15.

And these are Utah’s Most Influential Artists:

Pat Bagley
Edward Bateman
Connie Borup
Geralyn Dreyfous
Stefanie Dykes
Jann Haworth
Amy Jorgensen
Beth Krensky
Kim Martinez
Joe Ostraff
Pilar Pobil
Jorge Rojas
Linda C. Smith
Tony Smith
Stephen Trimble

As we did with our first round of Utah’s 15 in 2014, we’ll be celebrating these artists with an exhibition and a book, both to come at the beginning of 2019.

THE “Utah’s 15” EXHIBITION

Jan.18 – March 8, 2019
Rio Gallery
Curated by Kandace Steadman

Join us Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, 6-8 p.m., for a book release party and artists’ reception at Salt Lake City’s Rio Gallery
Or Friday, Feb. 15, 2019, 6-9 p.m., for Gallery Stroll.

This exhibition is the culmination of a project that began with a simple (or not so simple) question: Who are the state’s most influential artists? The public responded, and here are the state’s most influential artists:

We’ll be celebrating their careers with examples of their works.

THE BOOK
Utah’s 15: The State’s Most Influential Artists (Vol. II)

As part of our Utah’s 15 project we have been working on a book to examine the influence of these 15 artists.

Bound in gray linen, 90 pages, with essays on the artists by some of Utah’s best writers, photo portraits by Simon Blundell, and examples of their work, this is a unique publication on some of Utah’s most important artists.

To order the book, Utah’s 15: The State’s Most Influential Artists (Vol. II), visit www.bit.ly/15ArtistsBook