Recently the Art Haus SLC launched a new program featuring local artists' work in people's living rooms called, you guessed it, Art In The Living Room.  It is a wonderful program bringing members of the community together with local artists to share their work, discuss new ideas and connect with each other in a comfortable environment!  

While we also plan to create many opportunities for members of the SLC community to engage with new artistic endeavors (in living rooms, classrooms, galleries, store fronts, wherever!), we also recognize that works of art are all around us; sometimes all we have to do is take a moment to notice it.  That is why we are launching an interactive, mini-program documenting works of art in our different communities and sharing them online.  Art In The Neighborhood will be a chance for you to recognize works of art in your area, to observe what and where they are, and to ponder why they're there, who created them and what inspired these artists.  It can be anything from a wall mural, to a street band, to a school-groups' class project, to an installation at a bus stop.  We ask that you to stop, wonder and share what it is you see and hear in your neighborhood.

To kick off this mini-program, I'd like to share with you a unique community arts project that started in my community about four years ago in Boston, MA, my community.  Although I had walked through Downtown Crossing many times, it wasn't until I was waiting to meet friends to see a movie that I was even aware of all the art around me!  

I now notice these painted boxes all over the city as I walk around it.  Sometime I am able to check online and find out more about the artist or their process, like this artist who documented her work on her Flickr page and an article she wrote for the Examiner.com. But I can also take just a moment to wonder about this small work of art in the middle of Boston, snap a quick picture and share it with friend.

TAHSLC hopes that you will do the same.  As Henry David Thoreau once said "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." When you are traveling through your own community, and you come across a work of art or a performance, take a minute to Stop, Wonder and Share it with us!  

Go ahead and share with us on Facebook, Twitter (@TheArtHausSLC) or in our comments section below.  Or check out what other members of your community have found in their neighborhood.

Anne Wright
Co-founder of TAHSLC 

* For some community art projects that are paintings or sculptures, I would suggest downloading Google Goggles.  You can take a picture of the artwork and through Goggles, and it searches through Google's image database to list websites where the image is listed.  

The Art Haus SLC is excited to announce a new mentor program directed at High School and College Seniors.  This program will assist young artists in film, theatre, and interdisciplinary performance arts by connecting them with a professional in their field working in a major city or artistic hub.  The mentors will be available to provide counseling and guidance in the artist's chosen field and to offer feedback on applications and portfolio submissions for colleges, jobs, or grants.  Additionally the mentor will be available to provide letters of reference, connections to others working in the artist's particular field, and insights into the development of the student's work.  Last of all this opportunity will offer connections to theatre professionals working in Utah, California, New York, Illinois, Texas, London, and Australia.

Fall 2012 applications are available to seniors in high school working in acting, directing, and writing for theatre.  To apply for this opportunity send your application to thearthausslc@gmail.com by September 20th, 2012 answering these questions:

1.  Please provide a brief history of your work as an artist and your approach to creating a role, a script, or a new project (200 words)

2.  How do you see yourself developing as an artist and what are your career and work goals?  (200 words)

3.  What do you consider the most important project you have completed at this time in your work?  Why was it important to you and how did it shift the way you approach your creative process?  (300 words)

4. How do you see this mentor program benefiting your work and what do you expect to gain from building a relationship with your mentor? (150 words)

5.  What is your favorite book, movie, play, painting and/or other work of art and why?  (150 words)

6.  Please attach a brief sample of your work (writers: up to ten pages of a script; directors: a brief outline of your working process towards a new or completed project; actors: either a 2 minute video of yourself in performance or an outline of your process in selecting and preparing a monologue for audition)