Today we will all be going on a deep dive into art in Salt Lake City and our opening section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.
After that we will get into a variety of other topics like local art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures and statues, SLC art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.
Contents
If you are after any specific section you can jump straight to it using the table of contents on the left and we are also including a Salt Lake City art map with all of the various places we mention throughout the post pinned on it.
The Southwest is an area that we have discussed often on our site.
Best Art Galleries & Museums In Salt Lake City
If you want to visit the best art galleries and museums in Salt Lake City you can go to:
- Utah Museum of Contemporary Art at 20 S W Temple
- Utah Museum Of Fine Art at 410 Campus Center Dr
- A Gallery at 1321 S 2100 E
- Sugar Space at 132 S 800 W
- Local Colors of Utah Art Gallery at 1054 E 2100 S
- 15th Street Gallery at 1519 S 1500 E
- Urban Arts Gallery at 116 S Rio Grande
- Finch Lane Gallery at 54 Finch Ln
- Rio Gallery at 300 S Rio Grande St
Utah Museum of Contemporary Art opens at 11am Wednesday through Saturday and does all kinds of great things for the local community including their Art Truck which is the only traveling contemporary art exhibition in Utah. They also provide many programs and resources for local artists through their Artists-in-Residence Program, have Artists-in-Training summer camps for kids aged 13 to 15, and parents might want to know about their Family Art Saturday program where kids of all ages are welcome.
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) at the University of Utah has a collection of nearly 20,000 original works that you can check out from 10am to 5pm most days but they are closed on Mondays and stay open until 8pm on Wednesday. Throughout the year they put on all kinds of free programs like lectures, tours, and films and on every third Saturday there is a free art making program for families.
You will find a great balance of contemporary art and design trends blended with fine art traditions at A Gallery/Allen+Alan Fine Art which is open from 10am to 6pm Monday through Saturday. Their unique paintings, prints, photos, sculptures, ceramics, and glass art were created by a select group of up and coming artists. Consultations, installations, and some of the best archival custom framing near you are also available.
Local emerging artists from Utah have created many of the great works to be found at the 15th Street Gallery which is open from 11am to 6pm Monday through Friday and until 5pm on Saturday. In addition to paintings and sculptures you will also see unique glassware, jewelry, and gifts plus they can help with custom framing and do private rentals.
At The Urban Arts Gallery which is open from noon to 9pm Tuesday through Sunday they offer everything from emerging street art to fine modern art and the gallery is loaded with diversity so you really never know what you are going to see when you show up.
The Gallery Program at Finch Lane Gallery opens at 9:30am Tuesday through Thursday and encourages up and coming artists in your area to create new works and then foster the development of their skills through exhibition production and collaboration.
Materials & Supplies Near You
There are quite a few stores to buy art supplies and materials like:
- Clever Octopus at 2250 S West Temple
- University of Utah Campus Store at 270 S 1500th E
- Uprok at 1594 State St
- Michaels at 2236 S 1300 St E
- Blick Art Materials at 1025 E 2100 S
Many of the items for sale at Clever Octopus were created with reusable materials that have been donated by the community plus they have a Reuse Market Boutique in the store where you can buy artwork, materials, and other unique products that were made with reusable goods. Workshops, classes for all ages, and kids summer camps all take place their too.
At Blick Art Materials you can buy all kinds of arts and crafts supplies plus they can help with framing.
Shows & Events
Some of the best art shows and events held in your area are:
- Living Traditions Festival in May
- Utah Arts Festival in June
- Craft Lake City DIY Festival in August
- Busker Fest in August
- Urban Arts Festival in September
- Family Art Saturday
In May you can enjoy The Living Traditions Festival that goes down at the City and County Buildings and Library Square where there will be traditional music, dance, food, arts, and crafts in celebration of Salt Lake City’s ethnic communities.
Every year over the 4th weekend of June the Utah Arts Festival takes place at the SLC Library and Washington Square and this is the largest outdoor multi-disciplinary arts event that Utah has to offer usually bringing in over 70,000 visitors. Expect to find all kinds of art media in addition to good food and lots of family friendly events.
Utah State Fair Park is the location of The Craft Lake City DIY Festival and 20,000 people regularly attend this event along with more than 250 local artists, antique vendors, food trucks, musicians, DIY engineers, and many types of performers.
You will also find many street performers and artists at Busker Fest each August.
The Urban Arts Festival won an Arty Award for being the Best Indie Art Event in Utah in 2013 and like the others on this list there will be lots of music, food, and performances going on in addition to the artworks on display.
Family Art Saturday is a free event for all that is presented by the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and as the name suggest parents and kids can check out the changing exhibitions and participate in hands-on activities with trained instructors.
Art Dealers & Appraisers
When you are trying to find a new piece for your collection or to figure out the true value of something visit one of these art dealers and appraisers in your area:
- Trolley Art & Antiques at 602 S 700 E
- Anthony’s Antiques & Fine Art at 401 E 200 S
- Fine Art Inn at 3260 Highland Dr
- David Dee Fine Arts at 1709 E 1300 S #201
- Williams Fine Art at 132 E St E
- Phillips Gallery at 444 E 200 S
If you want a world-class purveyor of fine art, sculptures, antiques, jewelry, and even furniture look no further than Anthony’s Antiques & Fine Art where they are always interested in buying new fine pieces for their collection.
David Dee Fine Arts can help first time buyers or experienced collectors make the right decisions and their specialty would be acquiring and selling high end art from the American West that was created in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Williams Fine Art is known as the premier dealer in fine art from the top early Utah artists plus they provide art consulting, appraisals, commissions, and consignment of artworks in your area.
Some may not know that Phillips Gallery is the oldest commercial gallery in the Intermountain West and today they sell everything from paintings to drawings to sculptures and plenty more. Custom framing, restorations, installations, appraisals, and lighting consultations are services they provide plus they can advise for just about any questions you may have.
Other venues we have listed throughout this post like A Gallery, Local Colors of Utah Art Gallery, and Alpine Art & Frame also sell art.
Walking Tours
Art walking tours can be a lot of fun when the weather is nice:
- Salt Lake City Gallery Stroll at 55 N 300 W #400
- Note District at 622 W 500 N
On the third Friday of every month you should consider going on The Salt Lake City Gallery Stroll when many of the best galleries in SLC are open and free to enter from 6pm to 9pm and artists often show up to mingle with the crowd. We do want to point out that while this event is generally on the third Friday in December it is on the first Friday to avoid the holidays.
The Note District is not far from downtown and is growing quite the reputation for its local arts scene. Walking around and checking out the Downtown Street Art will be a great way to check out works on entire building faces to small almost hidden installations of great SLC street art.
Sculptures & Statues
You may also want to take some photos of these sculptures and statues:
- Gilgal Sculpture Garden at 749 E 500 S
- Brigham Young Monument at 15 E S Temple St
- Tusk Sculpture at 925 Jefferson St W
- Mandala Lantern at 246 Broadway
- A Bee-autiful Hive at 349 W 300 S
Thomas Battersby Child, Jr. created the Gilgal Sculpture Garden in the mid-twentieth century but you may need to do a little searching for it behind the houses and buildings in the area.
The Brigham Young Monument was dedicated back in the late 1890’s after being created by Cyrus Edwin Dallin.
The Tusk Sculpture will be unveiled at Loveland Living Planet Aquarium as soon as it is finished.
Ethan Barley created The Mandala Lantern which you can find on West Broadway to the West of Pioneer Square.
A Bee-autiful Hive isn’t too far away also in a median along West Broadway on the Northern end of Pioneer Park and it was created by Brook Robertson a few years ago.
Salt Lake City Art Classes
Whether you are trying to find private lessons or group classes for kids, teens, or adults the best art schools in Salt Lake City would be:
- Visual Art Institute at 2901 Highland Dr
- Petersen Art Center at 1025 E 2100 S #2322
- Salt Lake Arts Academy at 844 S 200 E
- Art Haus at 717 Simpson Ave S
- Bad Dog Arts at 824 S 400 W #B129
- Art Access at 230 500 W #110
Kids, teens, and adults can all take art classes in your area in ceramics, drawing, sketching, printmaking, or more from the Visual Art Institute who also has popular summer camps for kids.
The instructors at Petersen Art Center teach classes in two hour blocks for one session a week. Their kids classes are in watercolors, oil painting, and colored pencils while they have separate drawing or pottery classes for adults and high school students.
At Art Haus children and adults can try out their painting, drawing, or pottery classes plus they have specialty classes in different media, unique workshops, and kids summer classes that take place 7 days a week to fit all schedules.
In addition to classes for people of all ages and skill levels the instructors at Bad Dog Arts also put on summer camps, workshops, and can help lead private birthday parties, work team building events, holiday parties, or other types of get togethers you may want to try.
Studios For Rent Near You
You might be able to rent art studio space at:
- SLC Creative at 625 South State St
- Artspace Utah at 511 West 200 S
- Craft Lake City at 355 North 500 W
- Wild Willow Studio at 347 W Pierpont Ave
- Workshop SLC at 153 West 2100 S
Sugar Space from our main best museums and galleries near you list also has studio space for rent.
Framing
For art framing services in Salt Lake City try out:
- Tanner Frames at 18 E 800th S
- Framing Establishment at 6464 S 900th E
- Alpine Art & Frame Inc at 430 E S Temple
- Artistic Framing Company at 1117 E 2100th S
- Style Craft Frames at 1650 S Redwood Rd
At The Framing Establishment you can choose from over a thousand ready-made frames or over a thousand custom framing options as they do corporate framing, can provide deliveries and installations, and you can visit them on the 1st Saturday of the month when they always have a sale.
Not only can you get custom framing, consultations, digital printing, delivery, or installations from Alpine Art & Frame they also do restorations, appraisals, and sell works from local and international artists.
Some of the specialties at Artistic Framing Co include oil paintings, watercolors, photographs, mirrors, textiles, shadow boxes, and more. Custom framing, canvas stretching, mounting and floating, repairs, restorations, mattings, and plenty more services are also available.
A Gallery/Allen+Alan Fine Art from our best galleries in your area list, Michaels and Blick Art Materials from our art supplies list, Fine Art Inn, David Dee Fine Arts, and Phillips Gallery from our dealers list also do custom framing.
We have also written about:
- Galleries, Museums, & Classes in Provo
- Galleries, Museums, & Classes in Las Vegas
- Galleries, Museums, & Classes in Denver
- Galleries, Museums, & Classes in Boise
Have Fun Enjoying The Salt Lake City Art Scene
Hopefully we did a decent job of discussing the full art scene near you. We listed the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers in your area.
If you made it this far you might just know quite a bit about the local art scene yourself. Feel free to share your own tips, or to let us know if we may have gotten anything wrong in the comments.
Have fun going to the galleries, museums, buying supplies, or doing anything that has to do with art in Salt Lake City!