My first memory ever is of me dancing in front of the television while watching some ballet on PBS. I may have been two or three years old. I remember twirling around the living room wearing a pink tutu that my parents gave me as a gift and that I wore everyday for over a year. It was at that exact moment in time that my love affair with the arts began.
Pablo Picasso once said, “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” Most of us may at one point in our lives have had an experience with art. Whether the experience was with a painting, a play, a dance or music performance or a film, artistic expressions often bring out feelings and reactions that we have rarely or never experienced. Having worked as a museum educator for the past four years, I have seen many peoples' reactions to art. I have seen people laugh. I have seen people cry. I have seen people’s confused faces. I have seen people walk past a work of art and ignore it completely, while someone else may have been standing in front of the same piece for minutes or maybe hours, observing it, studying it, living it.
One of my favorite scenes of all times is from the movie Pretty Woman. In the scene the wealthy and sophisticated Edward Lewis, played by actor Richard Gere, takes the beautiful and uncultured prostitute Vivian, played by Julia Roberts, to see the Italian Opera La Traviata. When Vivian asks Edward how she is supposed to know what they are saying, he responds: “Believe me, you will understand. The music is very powerful.” At the end of the scene, an older lady asks the teary Vivian if she enjoyed the opera. Vivian responds: “Oh, it was so good, I almost peed my pants!”
The Art Haus SLC was inspired by my own personal experiences with art. Fortunately enough, I come from a home where we breathe art. Throughout my 28 years of life, I have studied ballet, opera, poetry, photography, and modern dance. Although my experiences with each discipline have all been very different, some positive and some negative, they have undeniably shaped me as a person. While visiting Madrid a few years ago, I found an art space that provided the community with free exhibitions, performances, educational programming and libraries. I remember seeing people hanging out around the exhibitions, at the library, and in the gardens. The art was as much a part of their lives as talking and breathing.
Most contemporary art spaces can be very intimidating but this one was so welcoming. I thought to myself how amazing it would be to bring a space like this to a community that needs more contemporary art experiences. While visiting Salt Lake City a year ago, I decided, much like it's founder, that this was THE place -- for contemporary art. Although there are various contemporary art museums and spaces in Salt Lake City, that offer terrific exhibitions and programs, there is also a fast growing artistic community. The Art Haus SLC wants to contribute to this growth by exploring multiple artistic disciplines in the visual arts, performance art, and media arts. We want to work with artists from Salt Lake City, the country and all around the world. We want to serve our local community by sharing these artistic endeavors through exhibitions, educational programming and online activities. We want to promote collaborations among artists from different disciplines, and we want to build bridges between the Salt Lake City art community and artistic communities in Detroit, New York City, San Juan, London, Shanghai, and the list goes on. Obviously for The Art Haus SLC to be able to accomplish all of these goals, we cannot stay in a vacuum. We need the support of the Salt Lake City community. As you probably know by now, The Art Haus SLC is fundraising throughout the website Kickstarter and our goal is $5,000. We only have 10 days left and a long way to reach our goal. I know we live in hard economic times, where art may not be a priority to many, but like the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once said: “ Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.”
Let’s keep hope alive, let’s support the arts. Let’s help The Art Haus SLC!
-Jendar Marie Morales
Co-Founder of The Art Haus SLC
To donate to The Art Haus SLC go here.
Pablo Picasso once said, “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” Most of us may at one point in our lives have had an experience with art. Whether the experience was with a painting, a play, a dance or music performance or a film, artistic expressions often bring out feelings and reactions that we have rarely or never experienced. Having worked as a museum educator for the past four years, I have seen many peoples' reactions to art. I have seen people laugh. I have seen people cry. I have seen people’s confused faces. I have seen people walk past a work of art and ignore it completely, while someone else may have been standing in front of the same piece for minutes or maybe hours, observing it, studying it, living it.
One of my favorite scenes of all times is from the movie Pretty Woman. In the scene the wealthy and sophisticated Edward Lewis, played by actor Richard Gere, takes the beautiful and uncultured prostitute Vivian, played by Julia Roberts, to see the Italian Opera La Traviata. When Vivian asks Edward how she is supposed to know what they are saying, he responds: “Believe me, you will understand. The music is very powerful.” At the end of the scene, an older lady asks the teary Vivian if she enjoyed the opera. Vivian responds: “Oh, it was so good, I almost peed my pants!”
The Art Haus SLC was inspired by my own personal experiences with art. Fortunately enough, I come from a home where we breathe art. Throughout my 28 years of life, I have studied ballet, opera, poetry, photography, and modern dance. Although my experiences with each discipline have all been very different, some positive and some negative, they have undeniably shaped me as a person. While visiting Madrid a few years ago, I found an art space that provided the community with free exhibitions, performances, educational programming and libraries. I remember seeing people hanging out around the exhibitions, at the library, and in the gardens. The art was as much a part of their lives as talking and breathing.
Most contemporary art spaces can be very intimidating but this one was so welcoming. I thought to myself how amazing it would be to bring a space like this to a community that needs more contemporary art experiences. While visiting Salt Lake City a year ago, I decided, much like it's founder, that this was THE place -- for contemporary art. Although there are various contemporary art museums and spaces in Salt Lake City, that offer terrific exhibitions and programs, there is also a fast growing artistic community. The Art Haus SLC wants to contribute to this growth by exploring multiple artistic disciplines in the visual arts, performance art, and media arts. We want to work with artists from Salt Lake City, the country and all around the world. We want to serve our local community by sharing these artistic endeavors through exhibitions, educational programming and online activities. We want to promote collaborations among artists from different disciplines, and we want to build bridges between the Salt Lake City art community and artistic communities in Detroit, New York City, San Juan, London, Shanghai, and the list goes on. Obviously for The Art Haus SLC to be able to accomplish all of these goals, we cannot stay in a vacuum. We need the support of the Salt Lake City community. As you probably know by now, The Art Haus SLC is fundraising throughout the website Kickstarter and our goal is $5,000. We only have 10 days left and a long way to reach our goal. I know we live in hard economic times, where art may not be a priority to many, but like the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once said: “ Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.”
Let’s keep hope alive, let’s support the arts. Let’s help The Art Haus SLC!
-Jendar Marie Morales
Co-Founder of The Art Haus SLC
To donate to The Art Haus SLC go here.