Participating Artists

Iosua Tai Taeoalii: - website
My name is Iosua Tai Taeoalii (Josh). I am a Samoan artist and award winning filmmaker. Over 3 decades ago I was released upon this place we know as earth, in the demure, but beautiful city of Salt Lake. In 1995, fresh out of high school adolescents, but still thriving off of teenage-angst, I launched my own production company, Weird Chief Pictures, and since that time, I have developed 2 television series, over 4 feature films, and a handful of award-winning shorts, including Darkroom, Ultimate Combat Experience and 3.2 Percent.

Since the day I could comprehend the images that my eyes were transmitting, I have had a beckoning passion for the arts. I have surrendered my appetite to many mediums including music, interior design, photography, tattoos, web design, architecture, poetry, graphic design, TV and film production and as of late I have acquired a perplexing taste for the landscaping trade.

For the last 5 years I've been extremely fortunate to be financially and romantically allowed to focus on the arts full-time. I am consistently inspired by my wife Adrienne, daughter Nalei, son Soul and the vitality of existence.

The cliché of expansive family in the Samoan culture is certainly the case in my life and I have a tremendous amount of gratitude for the support that I have received from all of them.

Mason Fetzer: - website
Mason Fetzer is a Salt Lake City artist who smashes together classical technique, contemporary media, urban methods, and unconventional materials. A child of the digital revolution, Mason pioneered “Plexis”: layered Plexiglas paintings that play with the eye.

After two years as a pre-med student and a stint in the graphic design program, Mason finished his undergraduate work as a painting and drawing major—earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Utah in 2006. Since graduating, Mason has split his efforts between graphic design and fine art. He currently works as a freelance designer and has created logos for numerous businesses across the western states.

As an artist, Mason has participated in several local exhibits in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah. He worked on a mural project along the UTA Trax line, which depicts the historic joining of the railroad lines. That work led him to the Utah State Legislative Session in 2006 to petition for more spending in the arts. Since then he has painted several other large-scale murals.

In 2009, Mason participated in the Manifest Hope:DC exhibit during the inauguration of President Obama in Washington DC. He most recently painted the trophies for the 2010 US Snowboarding Grand Prix and was there to watch Shaun White take home a piece of his art. Mason is also an avid music supporter and plays lead guitar and sings in The Precinct, an indie-folk duo.

Troy Henderson: - website
I found my voice within art at a young age. My talent is intuitive and self-taught. Art is my passion, my savior, my soul.

Urban landscapes and graffiti inspire me and my art is a reaction. My eye easily falls upon raw matter and finds the desolate things often overlooked.

I enjoy experimenting with all mediums. I have been up-cycling found material to use as canvas for the last five years. This process in itself has added an additional element to my work.

Becoming a father in 2004 pushed me to share my work with others. It was then I realized the importance of making every minute count. It’s an awesome feeling knowing that my son loves to draw and my work means more to me now that I can share it with him.

Kali Mellus: - website
Kali Mellus began experimenting with resin in 2002 while attending college for a degree in art. What started as a way to create jewelry for herself eventually became a full time job. In 2005 Mellus was able to quit her day job, began crafting full time and established her brand Bykali.  Mellus turns everyday objects such as hardware, leaves, plaster, and tape into pendants, buckles and wearable art. Mellus also creates leather belts and bracelets to compliment her pieces. You can find Bykali online at bykali.esty.com and locally at art and craft shows from Park City to Provo.

Adrian Prazen: - website
Adrian Prazen was born and raised in Salt Lake City Utah. The background of his work starts at the age of eight when his mother taught him how to make salt dough . As he reached the age of 16 he began working with his father, a noted metal sculptor and welder in the equipment repair shop / art studio. Through his father he learned to solve unconventional problems, fabricate and weld. As time progressed Adrian found work in the graphic design industry where he learned to use a verity of materials and processes. He then moved on to the foundry where he learned how to work with molten metal and the casting process. Upon returning to work with his father at the age of 21 he and his father started a furniture and lighting company, Expressions in Art, catering to architects and interior designers. At the age of 26 Adrian started Pop Arts llc. with Utah sculptor Chris Coleman. The focus of which was to produce large scale Metal sculpture for commercial settings. Pop Arts ran for 7 years and received a number of commissions and awards, including three best of show awards from the Utah arts festival .

In 2005 Adrian started an Independent Furniture and lighting design/ development company. Throughout his whole career these processes and experiences have shaped his diverse and complex art work.

Adrian’s latest vision is called Toypacalpyse . A plastic toy assemblage project in which disregarded toys have come to life are assembling armies and fighting for their salvation. Adrian admits his project is really about reconnecting to his inner child, something he feels is the purest form of art. The evolution of this series has already begun and is being produced in cast bronze.

Adrienne Taeoalii: - website
Adrienne Petersen Taeoalii- Born and bred in the Salt Lake Valley Adrienne's interest in art started in grade school. Art was a simple way for her to reduce the stresses of her academic struggles as a child. Art (of many forms) gave her the opportunity to excel in an area during her school years. The arts gained her passion and keep her going until graduation of high school. After high school however, the years passed and Adrienne got caught up with life in general and married an amazing man, but she lost hold of her artist passion.

In 2005 her inspiring husband (Iosua Tai Taeoalii AKA Josh) showed her that she could not only pick it up again but make a living doing it. She is blessed with the ability to work from home and be home to raise her and Josh's 2 children. Being over critical of herself, she has yet to sit down and try to simply draw again, but for now she's loving the art of stenciling & photography. Often inspired by nature, simple everyday objects, architecture, and all things rustic, old and shabby. Painting is just one of Adrienne's passions, but it continues to be the best way for her to remove herself from reality, clear her head and rejuvenate her mind and body. For Adrienne, painting is ginger, cleansing her palate between bites of life.

Trisha Henderson: - website
Trisha Henderson is a self taught knitter who has always connected with creative energies and originality but, finding her own medium did not come quickly. What began as a way to balance those early days of motherhood has grown into a deep appreciation for the craft. “Hands down my greatest co-creation is my son but, through this maternal journey has come my love for knitting and commitment to self expression.”

She identifies with do-it-yourself (DIY) crafters and others looking to develop skills lost in an Industrial Revolution. One of her greatest hopes is to witness a revival of Artisans. “I think becoming a mother opened my eyes to the importance of mastering some “thing” and sustenance,” she says.

Trish has been grateful to share her work with supportive family, friends and very recently the local community. While she still considers herself a newborn to the knitting world, she is proud to be making things people will actually leave the house wearing.

Trish enjoys the duality of creating something both aesthetically pleasing and useful. “I am definitely of my generation in that I enjoy “eye-candy” but, something else is either very ancient or progressive that recognizes the need for utility.” This desire to create purposefully has prompted Trish to expand her knitting skills and also learn to reclaim yarn. Inspired by a movement of knitters who unravel from thrifted or unwanted sweaters, Trish hopes to wean herself of retail yarn and knit solely from reclaimed material as soon as possible. She feels it’s necessary for the evolution of the craft, our planet and our souls.

She is content in her knitting process, fueled by texture, color and using her hands. Trish enjoys creating in the moment, the rhythm of the needles and is often involved in three projects at once. Her husband recognizes that knitting brings out the madness in her and though she agrees, Trish feels it keeps her exactly where she needs to be.

Adam J. Woolsey:
Born and raised in Salt Lake City. His fondest childhood memory is of the great flood in the early 80's. "I remember being able to swim in the streets. We were playing in rafts and having a blast. We couldn't figure out why all of the adults seemed so crazy. It was the most fun we had ever had".

This theme of thought has followed him throughout his life. Perspective, as he puts it. "The camera allows me to capture what's honest, simply what is there. It's the photographic itself which begs for emotion and interpretation. No two people will ever see the same photographic the same, and that is what I love".

Darrell Driver:
I am Native Utahan, I started to have an interest in Art when I found out I could not draw, that was in 10th grade @ Brighton High School.  Since then I have acquired many many sketchbooks, and have tried all mediums of art, coming to find myself comfortable in Aerosol/Airbrushed mixed media.  When I was experimenting in Aerosol art I used Freight Trains as my Canvas, over a few years I have many of my "pieces flowing across the U.S.A.

Currently I have enjoyed drawing Animals dressed in Business attire i.e. an Ape dawning a 3 piece sports coat.  I have a Lovely Wife and 3 children of which I always show/involve them in my art projects, I love to see their reaction. My Art theme for 2010 is "Grand Scale" I plan to do quite a few bigger projects, with high detail..

Joshua L. Johnston: - website
Existentialist Embodiments
The world of fantastic existential art now has a new force on its stage - Creator Joshua L Johnston (JLJ). Not since the works of Giger and Kostabi has there been an artist who’s visionary works blend and combine the outer-reaches of the imagination with psychological beauty and bitter anatomy. JLJ’s works evoke strong emotions and speak in tongues that viewers have yet to behold. And that’s exactly his intention.

JLJ was born October 1st, 1978 and was raised in Magna, Utah. At the impressionable age of three, JLJ was developing his yen for sketching and the world of surrealism. As JLJ grew in years, so did his abilities and perceptions on the world around him, which he bled onto paper. His art became his outlet in times of anger, frustration, and boredom. JLJ’s work was his personal outlet for emotions that very few know how to grasp. His parents were supportive of his gift.  Recognizing their son’s talent, JLJ’s father (who was an extremely accomplished musician in his own right) encouraged JLJ to develop his talent, which led to JLJ exuding his psychosis into art pieces at a fast and frenetic pace. His mother contributed words that persevere in his ambitions: “If you can imagine it, you can create it.” These formidable years yielded to the masterful artist before you today.

JLJ’s works have amassed to an eclectic portfolio that celebrated galleries. His works all imbue a spirit and a reflection of their own.

The painting “Amok” defines itself as “stretching imaginable psychic disturbance beyond normal thought.” This is the closest translation that literal language can endow on this piece. The surrealist motif of “Amok” challenges viewers to stand outside their imagination and reflect on its implications.

A physique with an elongated neck, stretched wrists that never reveal hands and a rich red background immediately challenges audiences. The 4 foot by 8 foot painting, called simply “My Shadow”, engages viewers in a cerebral chess game.

With a pivotal artistic pilgrimage to Italy in 2007, JLJ returned with rainy images of Venice in peaceful, yet somber tones of the work of an impressionist. The tranquility of such a painting, “Lido”, echoed visions of old masters solidifying his craft across the genres and the stylistic spectrum. In the same breath, JLJ continues to emanate a distinctive voice.

Upon first reflection, his work seems outwardly expressive in the meaning and yet further reflection reveals a much more sinister and intrusive nature of these existentialist embodiments.

While JLJ’s style is psychological and unique, his artistic influences and impressions are constantly changing which transform into cryptic works that bare the smile of artistic precision in abnormality. JLJ espouses on the nature of his work, “Anything one can verbalize… I can express through my work. It’s like music. It encompasses the same amazement and mystique that music can convey without any words.”

JLJ’s work will definitely speak to viewers without words… The astounding reaction is in how you listen.

Jenevieve Hubbard - website
The Sacred & The Profane

I spent my early childhood years in Alaska, among the natives of the Pilot Station Traditional Village where I was lovingly and generously taught their sites, smells, sounds and stories. I can still remember the quiet beauty of an Eskimo woman skinning a seal with an Ulu on the beach. I have spent the better part of my adult life both mentally reliving the mythologies created by my childhood and creating new mythologies in a starkly contrasting urban environment.

In the process of creating painted mythologies, using non-traditional materials such as tea, sand, thread and silk as well as acrylics and inks I draw from elemental themes including the interconnection of birth and death, indigenous mythologies, totem animals, gain and loss and our attempts to navigate the spiritual fall-out of a disconnected and isolated modern existence.

Sonya Evans: - website
I was born in Red Bank, NJ, but I guess you could say I’m an army brat. I have lived all over the US, as well as in South Korea and in Canada. Moving around a lot did have an upside: I’ve met some really great people and experienced some remarkable cultures. My little family and I have now settled down in an old farming town north of Salt Lake City, Utah.

I taught myself to screen print. I use no machinery, just a knee, a foot, and my muscles to press the ink through the screen. In the meantime, I’ve grown comfortable with my little routine, so I continue to do it that way. All of my screens are stretched by yours truly, and I have a make-shift darkroom in my home giving me the ability to be spontaneous. I have yet to see the process done by the book. This is my 4th year making a living creating. I couldn't be more grateful for the talent that has enabled me to work from home and raise my own children while doing so.

All of my prints are inspired by my surroundings, by things things that are visually or texturally interesting. I might get ideas for prints from nature where i love to spend my free time, or from industrial architecture, my children, or my grandmother's curio cabinet. I enjoy using many mediums and have been recently collaborating on a jewelry line with my husband, Chauncey Evans, who is a machinist by trade. We are excited to launch our new efforts this spring. My business name, The Full Spectrum Design, encompasses all of my random creations. You may purchase my wares at art and craft shows shows all over the Wasatch Front or online at www.thefullspectrum.etsy.com.

Jon Lang: - website
Jon Lang has been working with a variety of mediums throughout his life including acrylic, aerosol, oil, markers and ink. At an early age the desire to create art was fueled by his art teacher Susan Beck who continues to be an influence and friend today. Additionally Jon was inspired to explore graffiti in high school after meeting a predominant graffiti artist from New York while on a plane. Jon was assisted locally by a graffiti artist here in salt lake who helped him develop skills working with a spray can.

Following high school Jon traveled through Europe living mostly in London gathering a mountain of sketches and a library of images that helped further sculpt the influential factors in this art. Jon collected photos of urban people, fine art, subways, train yards, industrial sprawl, the urban environment and as much graffiti as he could find. Following his travels in Europe Jon attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where he decided art school was not the path he was destined for as an artist.

Returning to Salt Lake Jon pursued a life long interest in creating art on skin. Seeking a tattoo apprenticeship Jon found a new family at Big Deluxe studying under Rich D. Following the completion of his apprenticeship Jon has had the time to focus all this energy on creating art in his favorite mediums, which include acrylic, skin, aerosol and marker. Jon lives and works in Salt Lake making art as a passion and way of life.

Zach Sandall - website

Zach has drawn and painted since he was just a young tyke.  He moseyed on over to Kansas State University where he studied, crafted, shaped and attempted to perfect his artistic abilities for 3 1/2 years.  He got offered an apprentice opportunity to a tattoo shop in Corpus Christi, Texas and there he stayed for a meaningful and beneficial 5 years.  In 2009 Zach packed up his belongings and set sail back home to Salt Lake City where he currently tattoos at Big Deluxe.   When he is awarded the due time, Zach continues to draw and paint and has committed himself to one day writing his own bio.  Until that day comes, this bio is provided by Iosua Tai Taeoalii.

Deb - website

Deb's bio coming soon!

Performances

Johnny Riche - MC
All Night!!!
Began my sports marketing and production work while participating in a local MMA (mixed martial arts) promotion here in the state of Utah.  I had 13 professional fights and finished my career with 11 wins and 3 losses.  After my career as a fighter ended I was asked to be a Co-host to the Ultimate Combat Experience television series; I gladly accepted...."Holding a microphone is easier than getting punched in the face for a living!!"

I was a part of the production team as talent for the UCE for 7 years; I learned a lot in those 7 years and was offered a job to promote events for Throwdown Elite, one of the largest MMA organizations in the US.

I promoted 5 events with Throwdown and now currently work as a spokes person for Rockwell Time, EVO Energy and WCFC (World Champion Full Contact) MMA organization.  I also host a radio show on Sports Radio 1280 The Zone called "The Rockwell Action Sports Report" where we discuss MMA and Action Sports.

I consider myself a fun loving person who has a passion for life.  Behind every good man is a great woman and I wouldn't be where I am today without the support of my beautiful wife Alexis!

I have known Josh and Adrienne for many years and had the pleasure of being a part of their family where I lived under their roof for a couple years.  I am honored that Josh and Adrienne asked me to be a part of this awesome event and great cause.

I also have to thanks Rockwell Time, EVO Energy and WCFC for there support and sponsorship.
 

Brian Bingham: - website
6pm - 7pm
In a world full of chaos, turmoil and destruction with so much pain in every news reel, one has to find hope, peace, and happiness wherever one can. As most people know, the best place to find goodness is in music. It is this band's mission and commitment to provide a conduit of hope to a better place, even if it's only within our hearts.

Brian has been addicted to writing and performing music since he was a young teenager and has been a part of many bands: The Craving, Something Else, Phalanx, and many side projects. In each of these bands he learned a lot of things about music, writing, performing, and about himself in these different rolls. The summer of 2009 he decided it was time to write and play music in the exact setting he’s always dreamed of. Specifically that meant adding instruments like piano and cello. His group of players are dedicated musicians whose goal is to bring you music that will enrich your life in some way.
 

Jeremy & Lindy Nielsen
7pm - 7:30pm

The Precint: - website
8pm - 9pm
Mason and Carly have been playing music together since they met in 2001. They jammed their favorite cover songs at local pizza joints and open mic nights, but didnt start getting serious about writing their own music until 2004 when Mason and his boys formed the rock/garage-ish band Bella Rovina, and were nice enough to let Carly join too. Bella Rovina played seven shows, recorded one song, and broke up. The Precinct plays acoustic versions of some Bella songs and is constantly working on new ditties.

Each of The Precinct's songs contains a very distinct "flavor"--an unexpected addition that helps discern their original music from the rather large vat of acoustic dribble circulating through the indie music scene today. These flavors range from spoken word poetry to bluesy vocal scats; from folky finger picking and stortytelling to clever, dissonant harmonies; and from lyrical plays on words to sexy, intricate guitar work. Perhaps their most distinct flavor is thier nontraditional twist on the expected male/female musical dynamic.

Jean Howard: - website
9pm - 9:15pm
Award-winning video and performance poet, organizer, producer, and participant in the original development of the internationally-acclaimed, “Poetry Slam”, Jean Howard has poetry published in over seventy publications, including Harper's Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and her own book, Dancing In Your Mother's Skin (Tia Chucha Press).

She has performed her poetry on cable, public and network television and at hundreds of venues nationwide, from the Guggenheim’s exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum, to biker bars.

Currently, Jean serves on the Board of Slam Utah, Advisory Board of Utah Arts Alliance, and the National Poetry Slam Board, after serving as Director of Chicago’s National Poetry Video Festival for eight years.

Salt City Slam - website
9:15pm - 10pm