One thing that surprises a lot of people about Salt Lake City is the amount of culture and art in the area. There are several great theatre programs, an accomplished symphony, a world renowned ballet company, and the theatre study at the U of U is one of the top ten in the nation. One of the coolest things is a monthly event called the Gallery Stroll, sponsored by the Salt Lake Gallery Association. The third Friday of every month, all the art galleries in the downtown area stay open late so people can come browse. They serve wine and cheese, and it's a great opportunity to see new pieces from local artists.
Chad has invited me to the Gallery Stroll several times, but I've never really had the opportunity to go. So last night, I made sure I was free to join him, Christina, Mike, Jake, and Jeff for the festivities.
We walked around for two hours and saw only a fraction of what was available. But every gallery had something cool and unique.
One gallery had watercolours from children in an underpriveleged school district. They each painted pieces based on famous artists, and used the proceeds to help their school. It was adorable.
I saw so many great pieces, and never before have I been so desperate to have several thousand dollars in my wallet so I could take a few things home.
One reason I wanted to make it a priority to go last night was to see Project 337. It's an old building scheduled for demolition next month, but before it's destroyed, 137 local artists have turned it into a big canvas and painted every square inch of it. Last night was the first night it was open. When we got there, the wait to go inside was three hours, but we looked around at the exterior, which was pretty spectacular in itself. There were tons of people there, and it seemed everyone was unique in his or her own way. We never made it inside, but luckily, it will be open the rest of the weekend, as well as next weekend, so I'm definitely going to make an effort to see it.
One thing I haven't mentioned is how drunk everyone was before I even made it down to SLC. I stayed sober the whole night, but watching every elses antics was quite amusing.
After the Gallery Stroll, we went to eat at The Red Iguana, which is some of the finest Mexican food in the Salt Lake Valley. Then we headed back to Mike's place for a few more drinks.
Despite the appearance, Chad didn't pass out. But he does have two different shoes on. Somewhere along the evening, he and Jeff traded one shoe. Those artsy people always have to be different.
Mike has a great apartment downtown at the Gateway. This is the view out his window. Last night made me realise how much of a city boy I really am, and how great it would be to live in a downtown area surrounded by all the diverse people and culture and architecture. Salt Lake City really is a great town.
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