Cultural olympiad comes to Utah State
Salt Lake City isn’t the only place to enjoy Olympic events in February. As part of the Cultural Olympiad for the 2002 Winter Olympics, “Enchantments: Handcrafted Functional Objects,” has been set up in the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University.
Victoria Rowe, education curator for the museum, said they petitioned the Salt Lake Olympic Committee for a grant to fund the new display and was awarded the money to bring the exhibit to USU. This display is traveling around the United States and will be on campus until March 9, Rowe said.
Other awarded projects include a “Utah Faces of Judaism” exhibition at the University of Utah’s Marriott Library, the works of Avard Fairbanks, a Utah-born- and Internationally-renowned sculptor, which will be featured at the Fairview Museum of History and Art, and the Utah Museum of Natural History is hosting an exhibit that presents the traditions, social histories and present-day lives of the people of this region.
According to www.saltlake.com, the grants were distributed in accordance with the Utah Arts Council. These grants were awarded to organizations that submitted proposals to “produce community cultural events during the 2002 Olympic Games,” said Bonnie Stephens, director of the Utah Arts Council.
With the grant awarded to USU, the exhibition of handcrafted objects was able to be displayed in the upper gallery of the museum.
“This [display] focuses on the excellent craftsmanship of American artists,” Rowe said.
All of the art pieces are objects that can be used in everyday life including leather purses, leather jewelry boxes, ceramic plates, chairs and tables, she said.
“They’re functional,” Rowe said. “You can sit on them and use them if you wanted to.”
Rowe said these pieces push the fine line between art and craft.
Chairs made out of road signs, baskets made out of monofilament, and table lamps made from aluminum and stone are a few of the art pieces which incorporate unconventional modern materials into traditional forms, she said.
The level of craftsmanship is excellent, Rowe said.
“How many of us have the ability to take functional materials and make it beautiful?” she said.
The Handcrafted Functional Objects is a type of exhibit many people in this community don’t get to see, Rowe said.