You don’t need to be fluent in another language to converse with someone from a different culture — because, as we all know, a picture’s worth a thousand words.
Bountiful/Davis Art Center presents “Conversations in Culture,” a display of works by visual artists with international connections. The exhibit opens with a reception from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. July 13 in the art center, and continues through Sept. 21. Admission is free.
“Conversations in Culture” is subtitled “No Boundaries: How Other Cultures Influence Art in Utah.” Participating artists live in Utah, but some were born in other countries. A few of the artists were born in the U.S., but travels to foreign lands have influenced their work.
Featured artists are Russian painter Yevgeniy Zolotsev; Paul Twitchell, a U.S. watercolor artist who specializes in wildlife paintings; and Nile Fahmy, a jewelry-maker and tinker born in Germany to Irish and Egyptian parents.
The featured emerging artist for this year’s show is Viewmont High School student Seth Garner, who took Best of Show in the art center’s 2012 high school exhibit. The featured artists will also be part of Bountiful/Davis Summerfest International, the annual folk festival held August 9-11 in Bountiful City Park.
“Conversations in Culture” also includes photos, paintings, sketches, pottery and sculpture by artists from Mexico, Vietnam, Spain, China, Syria, Japan and New Zealand, as well as American Indian artists.
Among the artists are painter Pilar Pobil, who was born in Spain; Jou Jou Prochaska, a Syrian painter and jewelry-maker; painter Katsuko Hill of Japan; and U.S. painter Suzanne Tornquist, whose paintings depict American Indians.
Renovation
The Bountiful/Davis Art Center was scheduled to be closed, and the “Conversations in Culture” exhibit held at another location, due to a planned renovation.
That all changed on May 14, when it was decided the cost to improve the old building would be much higher than originally budgeted.
“They had been thinking for some time about a renovation of the current city hall, but it’s a pretty big building and Bountiful City’s not using the whole building,” said Emma Dugal, executive director of the Bountiful/Davis Art Center.
So city officials decided to move the Bountiful/Davis Art Center, and a new South Davis history center, into the current Bountiful City Hall. The old art center building will be demolished and a new, smaller city hall put up on the site.
“In the long run, it will be better for the art center, because we’ll have more space, and it will be better space,” said Dugal.
As a result, Bountiful/Davis Art Center will remain open in its old building at least through September, perhaps through the end of the year.
Officials hope to find the center a temporary home during renovations, which could take two years.
PREVIEW
- WHAT: ‘Conversations in Culture’ art exhibit
- WHEN: Opens with a reception 7-9 p.m. July 13; continues 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 2-5 p.m. Saturdays, through Sept. 21
- WHERE: Bountiful/Davis Art Center, 745 S. Main St., Bountiful
- TICKETS: Free; 801-292-0367, www.bdac.org