Now there's a third option: a Web site that solicits event listings from thousands of Utah arts groups statewide and gathers them in a searchable database. It's called NowPlayingUtah.com, and it's a free online clearinghouse for anyone seeking to promote or attend a public cultural event.

The site is the brainchild of the Utah Arts Council, which conceived it after hearing from grass-roots cultural groups across the state that they needed help marketing their events. Saturday was the site's official launch date, although NowPlayingUtah.com has been up and running for several weeks.

"It's a great solution [to Utah cultural groups' visibility problems]," says Margaret Hunt, executive director of the Utah Arts Council. "Arts organizations don't have to pay anything for the service, but they get the benefits of these marketing efforts that they normally couldn't afford."

NowPlayingUtah.com is a joint project of the Utah Arts Council, the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) Program. The three groups formed the Utah Arts & Cultural Coalition, a nonprofit program that contributed the seed money to launch the online calendar venture. Organizers hope the site will attract sponsors and soon become financially self-sufficient.

The site features listings of theater, music, dance, film, literary and visual-arts happenings - from Utah Symphony concerts to community theater in Clearfield and beyond. It also contains information about sporting events, kids' activities, festivals and free events. Visitors can search for events by artform, city, venue, date or arts organization, then click on a link to buy tickets.

So far almost 1,500 Utah arts and cultural groups have agreed to list their events on the site, says program manager Heidi Falk, NowPlayingUtah.com's only paid employee. One of Falk's roles will be to ensure the site's home page displays a statewide mix of cultural listings and not, for example, just high-profile events in Salt Lake City.

NowPlayingUtah.com will run on software developed by Artsopolis, a Silicon Valley firm that has helped launch online calendering sites for Austin, Denver, Nashville, Phoenix and other cities. Utah arts groups can either post information directly to NowPlayingUtah.com or send it to BeDynamic, a Seattle company contracted to sort and display content on the site.

"The site is different than other calendaring sites because its sole purpose is supporting and promoting arts and culture statewide. It is not a side program or a means to promote another product," says Jerry Rapier, producing director of Plan-B Theatre and a Utah Arts & Cultural Coalition board member. "The future is online. We're a little behind the curve here in Utah. But I really believe NowPlayingUtah.com is the perfect tool to help us catch up."

griggs@sltrib.com